Cindy Sherman
Madame de Pompadour (née Poisson)
New York City, USA: Artes Magnus, 1990
36.8 x 55.9 x 28.6 cm.
Edition of 75
A 21-piece breakfast tea service, with a setting for six: cups and saucers, breakfast/dessert plates, a teapot, creamer and covered sugar bowl. Produced in an edition of 75 in each colour: yellow, Pompadour pink, apple green and royal blue.
Still available from the publisher (thirty-five years later) for ten grand. If this seems steep, an incomplete set sold at Christies earlier this year for $32,760 US.
"This limited-edition tureen was manufactured in the famed pottery factory at Limoges, France, according to designs by the noted contemporary American photographer Cindy Sherman. The highly embellished Rococo style of the tureen became popular during the reign of the French king Louis XV (1715–1774), and porcelain was an important vehicle for its spread throughout Europe. The object is decorated with printed photographic images of Sherman in the guise of Madame de Pompadour, a mistress of Louis XV’s and an avid collector of porcelain. These images are typical of Sherman’s work: the artist is known for turning the camera on herself in order to raise questions about a variety of issues, particularly the role of women in society. Madame de Pompadour’s maiden name was Poisson, French for “fish,” and the interior bottom of the tureen is embellished with a still-life image that combines fish with luxurious jewelry in an amusing reference to both Pompadour and her social status.”
- Brooklyn Museum
