Basin decorated with the family of Henri IV, Fontainebleau or Paris school

Oval basin or deep dish from the Fontainebleau or Paris workshop, follower of Palissy, with historiated relief decoration in tones of brown, blue, ochre, and white depicting the members of the family of Henri IV, with nine figures shown in an interior, the floor with a green ground. The rim is decorated with a brown ground highlighted with fleurons in compartments framed by falling piastres on a blue ground; the reverse is marbled in blue and manganese violet.

The king, wearing the cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit and a plumed hat, is shown at the center, with Marie de’ Medici seated beside him on the same bench. Two children are depicted in the foreground: the youngest, dressed in white, seated on the knees of his governess and holding the sovereign’s hand, is believed to be the young Louis (born in 1601), future Louis XIII, on the knees of his nurse, Madame de Monglat. The second, older child, shown standing before Henri IV and holding a hat in his right hand, is probably César de Vendôme, son of Henri IV and Gabrielle d’Estrées, born seven years earlier in 1594 and legitimized the following year. Four great lords, knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit, surround the royal family in the background, in varied attitudes.

The decoration of this basin is inspired by a celebrated burin engraving by Léonard Gaultier (1561–1635), after a painting by François Quesnel, dated 1602 and published by Jean Leclerc in Paris.

Circa 1600–1650.

(Restorations)