Large crystal and Martin varnish bottle, Paris, Louis XV period, circa 1770

It is set in a sheet metal flask decorated with Martin varnish.

The flask features chinoiserie motifs in blue monochrome on a daffodil-yellow lacquer background.

The scenes are taken from collections of engravings by the ornamentalist Jean Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808), engraved by Jean Jacques Avril (1744-1831).

In excellent condition, with a later stopper.

Dimensions:

Height: 18.5 cm; Width: 12 cm; Depth: 7 cm

Our opinion:

Our bottle is one of the toiletries assembled and sold by Parisian haberdashers, alongside perfume boxes and wig, beauty patch, and powder boxes.

While the decoration remains strongly inspired by oriental motifs, it is no longer directly copied from stereotypes created in the Orient, but rather from the work of renowned French ornamentalists such as François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, and, in this case, Jean-Baptiste Pillement.
Our bottle features the characteristic design of Pillement's famous "Chinese cartels," where lush vegetation and "tightrope-walking" Chinese figures are interwoven in a mountainous landscape of waterfalls. The use of a yellow background and shades of blue was unknown in Asia and marked a departure from the oriental style.
This innovation, both technical and decorative, signified the pinnacle of Martin varnish, which then became an exclusively French art form.