Antique 1770c Paris Royal Porcelain Water Jug & Basin Hand Painted Gilded Cooler

Description

Antique c.1770 Paris Royal Soft Paste Porcelain Water Jug & Basin Hand Painted Gilded.  This item is also sometimes called a cooler.
Very gently used with no chips, cracks, or crazing.  The paint itself is in excellent condition.  These pieces have been exquisitely well preserved.  From a smoke-free, pet-free home.
Dressing and grooming (often done in the presence of friends and visitors) were important in the life of an eighteenth-century aristocrat, and the manufactory at Royal Paris produced many accessories, often in sets, for these activities, including small boxes, jars, and brushes in different shapes and sizes. Large jugs and basins used to wash one’s hands with scent infused water were usually displayed on the dressing table during the morning ritual or in the
garde-robe
as precursors of the plumbed-in hand basin. At the time, clean water was a rare commodity, even for the wealthiest, and many doctors advised against bathing or even washing one’s face, fearing dangerous illness. However, the water jugs and basins made at Royal Paris were always beautifully decorated, these with fruits and flowers in white reserves against a turquoise blue ground. The flowers and fruits — pink roses, mauve convolvuli, blue ranunculi, yellow anemones, pink peach, and purple plums, among others — were painted by Cyprien-Julien Hirel de Choisy (act. 1770−1800) in the style of a Flemish still-life painting.
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