Mademoiselle de la F. [= Marie-Gabrielle Charlotte de Saintignon (1749-ca. 1780].

Study of a covered ornamental vase.

[France, ca. 1770].

Grey wash with fine dark outlines and shaded modelling on laid paper, mounted on blue paper.

            A finely worked vase study with a female attribution recorded on the sheet itself. A reclining winged Cupid lies within an oval wreath of foliage, flanked by ram’s-head handles. Fine contours define the curling horns and leafy scrolls, while carefully graded washes give depth to the relief decoration. The elaborate upper body and domed cover are balanced by a fluted lower section, narrow stem and circular foot.
At lower right, the abbreviated name “Mlle de la F.” is accompanied by a fuller name along the lower edge, in a different hand, read as “Mlle d. la Frenière Saintignon”. Our archival research has uncovered a promising lead in the inventory of Florimond-Claude de Mercy-Argenteau’s papers, preserved in Vienna. An entry dated [1780] records a “comtesse de la Frenière, née de Saintignon” in Paris (V458/1; see also V635/11 and 23). The countess is probably Marie-Gabrielle Charlotte de Saintignon, born at the château de Puxe in Lorraine on 25 December 1749. Her father, Jean-Antoine Joseph de Saintignon, was a general and imperial chamberlain in Habsburg service. On 6 February 1770 she married Jean-Baptiste Alexandre de La Fresnière at Puxe. He commanded a squadron in the Saintignon-Dragons and was then living in Ghent.

Condition:

Scattered foxing and light surface discolouration, with minor marks and soiling towards the edges. Light soiling and marks to the blue mount. The drawing and both inscriptions remain clearly legible.

References:

Inventaire des archives de Florimond-Claude de Mercy-Argenteau conservées au Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (Vienne). Annexe II, V458/1, with cross-references to V635/11 and 23, p. 65.

alainpierrette. Généalogie de notre petite-fille Manon. Geneanet. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.