Antique French Porcelain Figurine/Decanter - Handsome Sheik

Antiques : Old Paris Porcelain : Eau De Cologne Figural Bottle

 

Lavishly decorated, this handsome gentleman was made in the mid 1700's as a decanter for Oil of Vanilla by the French Porcelain Company, "Badin Freres Dleurs a (from) Paris. This type of figurine is often classified as "Old Paris Porcelain." There is an opening in the lavender hat he wears, but its placement was designed so that it was not easily seen when the item was on a shelf or mantel. It was necessary to view it from above or remove it and examine it to determine that it was made as a bottle or decanter. He wears his thick, brown hair long, falling below his shoulders and has a matching mustache and eyebrows. His complexion and rosy cheeks would be the envy of any woman. His eyes are blue and delicately outlined. He wears a floor length Spring Green cape which is attached across his chest with gold lacing, from which a tassel dangles on the left side over his jacket. His red orange long sleeved jacket has 3/8" wide borders of white with intricate gold motifs. His shirt under the jacket and the lining of his cape is bright white dotted with gold. The white and gold handle of a weapon, probably a short knife, is tucked into his diagonally striped white and gold sash or belt. His left hand clutches the gold and white hilt of a sword which cannot be seen as it is hidden beneath the cape, but it is secured from one side of the hilt to something under the right side of his jacket by a golden rope. Rather than trousers, our distinguished gentleman wears a knee length light yellow "skirt" decorated with berries in the same color as his jacket and two green leaves on each. His elegant knee high boots are decorated with gold sunburst-type designs and even the soles appear to be colored gold. In his right hand he hold the top of an open scroll. In gold lettering, one can read "Huile de Vanille," which means Oil of Vanilla which was what this bottle contained. He stands on a circular white platform which is almost 4 1/2" in diameter. The maker's name, Badin Freres Dleurs of Paris is written in gold lettering on the front of this 1" high platform. The piece is 11" tall from the bottom of the base to the top of the lavender hat. The gentleman's cape is 5" at its widest. He stands with one foot slightly in front of the other, the toe of his left boot at the front edge of the platform or base. There is a small repair about 1" from the side of his left boot. It is a chip less than 1/2" across that has been filled in with a white compound, but is very slightly concave. There is a small bit of green missing from his cape which measures about 1/8". The cape has a matte finish glaze and this missing color appears to be under the glaze. The remainder of the figure and the base is finished with a high gloss glaze. There is some missing gilding on the two lines of gold that originally surrounded the top and bottom of the circular base. Almost all of the bottom gold circle is intact, but the top decoration is missing except for areas on each side of the figure. The base is concave, white and glazed and there is an inner concave circle which has a diameter of about 2 3/8". Impressed lines can be felt more easily than seen inside the inner circle on the base. These are most likely the marks of the decorator of the piece. These "Old Paris Porcelain" pieces are rarely marked but often attributed to a very famous porcelain maker of the period, Jacob Petit. I do have one pair with his "JP" mark on each, but I have many more with no marks. Considering that this beautifully decorated figural bottle is 250 years old or more, it is in remarkably wonderful condition without any crazing, cracks or repairs other than one I described. It would be an elegant stand-alone decorative piece or a marvelous addition, for example, to a collection of figural decanters or perfume bottles.

Item ID: MK-149