Teapot in Tournai porcelain

It was at the 2014 antique dealers’ fair, BRAFA, that the King Baudouin Foundation acquired a rare porcelain teapot, thanks to the Donald Germain bequest.

Dated 1775, the teapot was probably made in the workshops of François Peterlinck, founder of the first porcelain workshop in Tournai in the 18th century. Its slightly bulbous shape tapers towards the base and its sides are decorated with polychromed panels framed in rocaille, to which are attached garlands of gilded flowers.

The decoration represents battle scenes painted in rocaille frames influenced by the porcelain of Vincennes-Sèvres. Each side shows the scene of a horseman in action. The teapot lid is also decorated with great refinement: the neck has a gold lace design composed of florets alternating with garlands. The knob on the lid is in the form of an acorn.

The teapot is apparently one of the complementary pieces to the exceptional ‘Battle scene tea tray’ in the Royal Museum of Mariemont collections. The gilded border on the teapot breast is identical to that on the edge of the tea tray. The subjects portrayed in the cavalry battle scene pieces will have been inspired by engravings made from the paintings of the French 17th century artist Adam Frans van der Meulen.

Entrusted to the Royal Museum of Mariemont, the teapot will be exhibited alongside the two Tournai porcelain trays acquired in 2013 thanks to the Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché Fund.