Ewer: Triumph of Bacchus; Triumph of Diana

Signed IC on the lip, this ewer depicts two pagan subjects on its ovoid body: on the upper register, the triumph of Bacchus; and on the lower register, the triumph of Diana. Both were adapted from designs for the decoration of cups, ewers, and ewer stands made around 1546 by the French architect, designer, and engraver Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (1510−1584). This demonstrates the lasting influence on late sixteenth-century Limoges enamels of the arts that flourished in the 1530s and 1540s at the court of Francis I at Fontainebleau.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.

Hollingworth Magniac, London. His sale, July 2 et seq., 1892, Christie’s, Lot 523. Sir Thomas D. Gibson Carmichael, Salisbury. His sale, May 12, 1902, Christie’s, Lot 73. J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York. Duveen. Frick, 1916.

Source: Enamels, Rugs and Silver in The Frick Collection. Volume VIII. New York: The Frick Collection, 1977.