Pâte-sur-pâte, the technique of applying layers of clay slip which could be carved by the artist to produce a translucent shaded image or pattern, was developed at the Sèvres factory from 1849. The first examples of pieces with this innovative type of decoration were first exhibited in 1850, and then in 1851, at the Great Exhibition in London. These pieces were met with such acclaim that the technique was subsequently taken up by many other factories across Europe.

The Rimini vase form was designed by Jules Diéterle, produced in three sizes and available with porcelain snake handles or with gilt bronze handles. The largest size, of which our vase is an example, was first created at the factory in 1854. The present lot is recorded in the Sèvres factory magasin de vente (saleroom) records on 31 July 1874 at a price of 7,000 francs, described as: '1 vase de Rimini 1er grandeur fond sous couvete figure en pâte d'application, décor en or, Diane Chasseresse'. The entry mentions Hyacinthe Régnier as the artist responsible for the figure decoration and Blanchard as the gilder (Sèvres archives, Vr’, n° 2, f° 230). Hyacinthe-Jean Régnier was active at the Sèvres factory from 1825 to 1863 as a decorator, and Louis-Etienne-Frédéric Blanchard is recorded at the Sèvres factory from 1848 to 1880 as a painter and gilder.

An example of this vase form, with blue decoration and with fox-head handles, was presented to the people of Sydney by the French government after the International Exhibition in 1879 and is held in the City of Sydney Civic Collection (Accession No: 1988.450). A further example is in The Musee D'orsay (museum no. 155309); see also Tamara Préaud, Les débuts du procédé de décoration céramique dit 'pâte sur pâte', Revue d’Art Canadienne, volume 13, no. 2, 1986, pp.131-136 and Brigitte Ducrot, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, de l’Audace à la Jubilation, Second Empire & IIIe République, 2008, p. 91 for further discussion of the type.