Sugar bowl

Sèvres Manufactory (France)

Polycles Langlois (French, 1814–1872)

1863

Object PlaceFrance

Medium/TechniqueSoft-paste porcelain, colored enamels, gilding

Dimensions17.8 x 9.5 cm (7 x 3 3/4 in.)

Credit LineGift of the Committee of the Fair for the relief of sufferers in France, held in April, 1871

Accession number91.46a-b

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsCeramics

Collections

Europe

Provenance1870, gift in the name of the French Government from Maréchal Patrice de MacMahon, President of France (b.1808-d.1893) to Mary Frazier Curtis (d.1890); 1891, gift through her brother Laurence Curtis to the Committee of the 'Fair for the Relief of Sufferers in France' [see note 1]; gift of the Committee of the 'Fair for the Relief of Sufferers in France' to the MFA in 1891 [see note 2]. (Accession Date: March 3, 1891)

NOTES:
[1] Letter of March 3, 1891 from Laurence Curtis to Charles G. Loring: Curtis explains that this tea set was given to his sister, Mary Frazier Curtis, by the Maréchal de MacMahon, soon-to-be the President of France. Mary Curtis was the agent in charge of the distribution of the funds of the Committee for the Relief of the Sufferers of France from 1871. Curtis felt that it should be given to the Committee, of which Loring (Director of the MFA) was a member. A transcription and the original letter are both in the file.
[2] This gift is listed as a gift from the Committee of the 'Fair for the Relief of Sufferers in France' in the Annual Report for 1891 on p.42. The object is clarified as: "A set of Sèvres porcelain, twelve pieces, originally a gift from President Marshal McMahon to Miss Mary Frazer Curtis, the distributing agent of the Fund in Paris."