| Description
The two-handled vase is of krater
form and stands on a domed, circular foot chased
around the border with gadroons
and within with a calyx of
acanthus foliage. The foot
and body are connected by a corded moulding, and the lower part
of the body is decorated with a calyx of palm leaves, with sprays
of lilies and coffee plants between.
The upper part of the body is chased
with gadroons, and the cylindrical
neck is decorated with an applied band of oak leaves and olive branches.
Palmettes and gadroons are
chased around the lip. The reeded
double scroll handles are chased with rings of foliage and spring
at the lower terminals from applied lion masks.
One side of the vase has two applied putti
holding a banner inscribed, 'LA FRANCE AU GENERAL LAFAYETEE', a
bust of Fame, and emblems of art and industry; on the other side
are two applied putti with a banner inscribed with the date 1830
above a bust of Mercury and agricultural and maritime emblems. The
vase is fitted with a gilt
copper liner and stands on a tall plinth of square section with
canted angles.
Each side of the plinth is inset with a
gilt copper plaque decorated
in relief with scenes from the life of Lafayette and with an applied
swag below; above three of the swags is a cockerel and above the
fourth an eagle. At each angle is a freestanding gilt bronze statuette
of an allegorical female figure. The base of the plinth is chased
with a band of Greek key pattern and egg-and-dart ornament.
Construction
The foot of the vase is cast and screwed to a wide thread soldered
to the base of the body, and the calyx
is cast in a single piece and held in place by the foot. The body
of the vase up to the lower junction of the handles is raised
in a single piece, and the cylindrical part of the neck is also
raised, with cast bands of moulding above and below. The handles
are cast and attached to the body by screws.
The plinth is basically constructed from
a series of plates, those around the base soldered together and
those forming the main part secured by a series of pins. The cast
copper plaques are let in and secured at the back by brass frames,
which are in turn attached to the plinth by nuts and bolts. The
platform supporting the vase is held in place and strengthened by
four long, threaded brass rods that are connected to a brass plate
at the base.
The freestanding statuettes, each of which
is attached to the plinth by two screws, are of ormolu,
as is some of the applied ornament and the moulding of the plinth.
The applied ornament on both the body and plinth is cast and secured
by numerous nuts and bolts; all the ornament has shaped backing
plates of tin or brass inside the body. Many of the brass elements
have been recently fabricated to replace the original corroded iron
parts.
Commentary
The career of soldier and statesman Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (1747-1834), spanned one
of the most politically active eras in French and American history.
Born into the aristocracy on September
6, 1747, he entered the army in 1771, retiring five years later
when the military was restructured by Louis XVI. Against the wishes
of the king, Lafayette sailed in 1777 to join the American fight
for independence; he was warmly received and given an honorary commission
as a major general by the Continental Congress. He became an intimate
friend of General George Washington and was responsible for several
significant actions during the course of the war, being present
at the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis on October 19, 1781.
In 1782 he returned to France a hero and
was made a brigadier general by Louis XVI. Immediately after the
fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, the king installed him as
commander of the National Guard, in which post he acted as guardian
of the royal family and successfully contained mob violence in Paris
until the fall of 1791, when his command was abolished and he retired
to his estates. He was forced to flee to Belgian territory when
the royal family was captured in 1792. There he was arrested, ironically,
as a revolutionary, by order of the emperor of Austria; he suffered
a terrible imprisonment until Napoleon negotiated his release five
years later.
He was a very popular figure both in France
and the United States; in 1824 he returned for a year-long tour
of America, where he was recieved as a hero of two revolutions.
After the fall of Napoleon, Lafayette became a member of the Legislative
Assembly and in 1827 was seated in the Chamber of Deputies; he remained
actively involved in the political life of France until his death
in Paris on May 20, 1834.
The form and decoration of the vase, although
obviously classical in inspiration, is almost entirely descriptive
of Lafayette; the four plaques set into the base depicting significant
episodes in his life, while the four allegorical statuettes of young
women can be clearly identified by their attributes as Liberty,
Equality, Strength and Wisdom.
The vase was ordered by Jacques Lafitte,
president of the Council of Ministers, and paid for by subscription
raised among the national guards of Paris and the provinces. The
vase was not completed, however, until after Lafayette's death in
1834 and the presentation was made to his son a year later.
Glossaries
krater - a wide, two-handled
bowl used in ancient Greece and Rome for mixing wine and water
chase - to decorate a metal surface using a hammer and
sharp tool
gadroons - a series of convex curves often applied
as a border decoration
calyx - a cuplike motif resembling the outer leaves or
petals of a plant or flower
acanthus - a representation of the leaves of the acanthus
plant
palmette - a decorative motif resembling a palm or palmate
leaf
reeding - thin, parallel, convex mouldings, often used
for the ornamentation of a border
putti - a representation of a small child, often naked
and having wings
gilt, gilding - the embellishment of silver, bronze or
other material with a thin layer of gold
raised - formed from a single sheet of metal by repeated
hammering over an anvil
ormolou - gilded bronze
back to the
collection
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the
Gilbert silver