Hm, interesting Sevres covered box- 18th century!?

[luxetveritas]

Interesting auction I found on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370222479331&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT&salenotsupported
I did a little research and haven't been able to find a similar box, even in my Sevres books. Sort of surprising  that the price is still so low, similar pieces I have seen were much, much higher- even despite the damage. The marking does look like 18th century to my untrained eyes though. What does everyone else think?

By the way, I hope it's all right that I am becoming more active on this site. I have been "lurking around" for a while and just joined. I find antiques so interesting and am an enthusiast of continental ceramics and furniture, mostly 18th and 19th century.

[regularjoe2]

Welcome , lux .

I took a peek at that box you posted about .

To me , it looks much more like a French Clignancourt studio work ( or a fake of one ? ) .
If it is that , it's post 1784 for sure .

Really tough to tell from images , as usual .

[KC]

If you look at sevres marks the design with b wasn't used at that time....so it is definitely post 1784.

Would be leery of it's origin - proclamation of authenticity.  Not much info given by seller...so what you buy is what you get!

[luxetveritas]

Interesting, a French Clignancourt piece? You are probably right, I would guess a fake. Darn eBay, and this seller had such good feedback 

[KC]

This very well could be an excellent EBay seller that isn't an expert or declares to know that it is genuine. Their post doesn't declare it is a genuine or really old piece - just basics because they aren't really sure of it as well - good move.  It is still a pretty piece to sell...and there is someone out there that will like it enough to buy it.

Just like on this site, many put "I heard that..." or "The Family history is..." and the pieces don't pan out to be what they were told.  Over time people forget or remember portions of what they are told and the story/history changes (Reminds me of the game we played as kids where one whispered a few sentences in one persons ear and then they had to whisper it in the next person in line and this all the way to the end.  The last person said the sentences aloud...and they were much different and/or totally different than the originals!)

Word of caution, unless you are going to specialize in a particular item/s buy something that you truly like and then if it turns out to be an original....win-win!

Unfortunately, Japan made a lot of copycats of coveted makers and designs over the years. 

[luxetveritas]

Yes, thanks for the reply KC! I was thinking about purchasing the box, but I really can't tell anything from the pictures. But hey, the price is cheap, so why not give it a shot, right? Maybe it will turn out to be a Sevres piece after all, at least I can hope

By the way, the game was called "telephone" I think Good memories of camping with friends Haha, once when I was probably 15 I was invited camping with this family from Taiwan (their son was a good friend of mine, but the only one who spoke English). I came along, and we played telephone in English/Mandarin- the resulting sentences were so obscure it was impossible to make them out. We made our own dialect I suppose