Blue Ground & Scenic Teapot

This is a rare tea pot made by Sevres around 1773. The piece is made of soft paste porcelain and has that very nice creamy white paste that collectors love so much. It is hand painted with two superb scenes en grisaille (in tones of grey / black) of cherubs / angels sitting on a cloud doing different things. The scenes are surrounded by a gold band, then a leaf and berry garland and another gold trim around that that is tooled nicely. The rest of the main body has an amazing deep cobalt blue ground color and a really nice thick gold trim around the top. Gold band to the top and bottom edge. The spout has the same leaf and berry garland winding up it with a touch of gilding to the ends and the typically shaped handle has a bit of gilding to it as well. The lid has the same cobalt blue ground / gold trim combination with the center being white with a floral finial highlighted with gold in the center. The piece is in superb condition with a couple of very minor scratches to the glaze from use which is normal on softpaste pieces! The lid has two small underside edge chip restorations and the finial has one of its leaves damaged. The piece displays perfectly! The pot is marked with the interlaced double L mark in blue underneath as well as two artist marks - the one is for Fountaine (J.) who was a painter at the factory from 1752 until 1807. The other artist mark I could not figure out. It has two little holes in the foot ring from the firing process. The pot and lid are 4.5 inches tall, 3.5 inches wide and 6.25 inches from handle to spout. Please email me for more information or other pictures.