Museum quality Egyptian vases, Dagoty in Paris

Two museum quality vases (or bowls) most probably from the Egyptian-style service of the Princes of Thurn and Taxis made by the Dagoty manufactory during the Empire period. All the decorations are a reference to the art of the Nile. Egyptian motifs are used here in the decorations as support elements or to decorate the china. The impression is dominated by the topless caryatids, whose headdresses and pleated skirts are reminiscent of statues of Egyptian dignitaries. Stele-shaped black caryatids on the gold painted candy bowls. Rare mark “Dagoty, Faubourg Poissoniere n°2”. Only the set made for the Thurn and Taxis family is known to bear the signature of Dagoty in the Egyptian style.

A part of the “service à déjeuner” of the Princes of Thurn und Taxis (now part of the family’s tresor) in display at the National Museum of Bayern. (https://www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de/sammlung/00200449)

Size: H 21cm – diameter base 8 cm

Manufactory of Dagoty, Empire period, crica 1805-1810.

Another bowl with black standing Egyptian and lotus decor is in the collection of the Museum of the Malmaison castle and is part of the Dagoty surtout de table gifted by the Empress Joséphine to Madame Campan (Marie-Antoinette’s chambermaid, made famous by her memoirs). The picture of the bowl in the book “Dagoty à Paris, la manufacture de porcelaine de l’impératrice”, Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, éditions d’art Somogy, Paris, 2006, p 139.

Lit: Descendants of the great engraver Gautier d’Agoty (1711-1785), this family of artists simplified his name during the French Revolution. It was the three sons of Jean-Baptiste André Gautier d’Agoty (portrait painter of Marie-Antoinette, who died in 1886), who launched themselves into the world of porcelain. Hired by Guérhard and Dihl, they then moved to a modest home ‘Blvd des Italiens’ as decorators on porcelain. In 1798, Pierre-Louis and Etienne took over a factory in bankruptcy and it is there, rue de Chevreuse, that will be born one of the most prestigious manufactures of Paris. In 1804, following the death of Etienne, Pierre-Louis takes the direction of the manufacture. In that same year he produced and obtained the support of the Empress Josephine and was authorized to sign his porcelains: “Manufacture of S.M. the Empress, P.L. Dagoty in Paris”. He opened a very elegant shop “Boulevard Poissonnière”. In 1806, he counts 100 workers and obtains a silver medal at the exhibition of the products of the Industry, he also exports his production as far as in Russia. During the fall of Napoleon I in 1814, the factory lost its privilege but could count, in 1815, on the patronage of the Duchess of Angoulême until 1820. From 1816, Pierre Louis joins forces with François Maurice Honoré and his son Edouard. The Dagoty factory continued until the 1823s.
Perfect illustration of the “golden age” of Paris porcelain, the production of the Dagoty factory is characterized by the elegance of forms, the use of colours and a very thick gold.