Acquisition · Jean-Valentin Morel's Hope Cup

• Anaïs Alchus, Decorative Arts Curator

65cm tall and weighing around 16kg, the Hope Cup is made from four blocks of jasper – the vessel itself and a column of three blocks which it sits upon – all carved, polished, and etched, as well as a lavish base featuring various sculptures in the round and decorated with lush vegetation in embossed enameled gold.

Depicted here astride Pegasus, Perseus, carrying the head of Medusa who he has just decapitated, brandishes his lance at the dragon, who, clutching the side of the cup, throws himself into the action with his last drop of strength. Andromeda, chained to her rock on the stem of the goblet, waits to be freed. Meanwhile six nereids swim around her feet, a reminder of the events that led to this tragedy: Queen Cassiopea, her mother, had invoked the wrath of Poseidon by comparing her daughter's beauty to that of the Nereids. In his anger, the god of the seas had sent a sea monster who devoured man and beast and could only be stopped with the death of the princess. The spout of the cup is decorated with a cartouche in enameled gold surrounding a jasper cameo featuring the head of Medusa, the enameled gold snakes of her hair winding into the stone. Seated on the edge of the cup are two cherubs carrying plain cracked globes in plain enamel that represent the weapons of Henry Thomas Hope, who commissioned the work. A reminder of Medusa's decapitation by Perseus provides a pendant to the figure of Andromeda; found on the opposite side of the goblet's stem, it offers yet another opportunity for the goldsmith to show off the vividly-colored degradations of his enamel work.

Jean-Valentin Morel was one of the most renowned jewelers of the Romantic generation. Initiated into hardstone carving by his stone cutter father, then into the art of goldsmithery by Adrien Vachette – famous for making boxes and snuffboxes using 18^th-century techniques – Jean-Valentin Morel began as chef d’atelier at Fossin, before joining in partnership with Charles-Edmond Duponchel (1794-1868). Their refined, technically flawless work brought them fame at the various industrial exhibitions - Morel won a gold medal at one such event in 1844. Having ended his partnership with Duponchel in 1848, he went to London, where he surrounded himself with highly accomplished fellow artists such as Constant Sévin, Henri Fourdinois, and the enameler Lefournier. After his triumph at the 1851 Universal Exhibition in London, he returned to France and went to live in Sèvres, where he created the Hope Cup.

The composition for the cup was the work of Constant Sévin. A watercolor dated 1854, probably painted by Sévin, is held in the Chaumet collections and reveals several differences between the plan and the finished piece in terms of the goldsmith work on the base. The 'sculpting' of the goblet, in other words the design of the enamel decoration, was the work of Alexandre Schoenewerk, probably helped by decorative sculptor Willms. The carving was entrusted to Dalbergue, an acclaimed chiseler who trained in Vechte's workshops, and the enamel work to a certain Richard from the Sèvres factory. Finally, the cameo featuring the head of Medusa was created by Jean-Baptiste Salmson, engraver of semi-precious stones and father to sculptor Jules Salmson. This piece is therefore the product of the collaboration between many different artists who excelled in their respective domains, under the direction of Morel, whose status as ‘ouvrier-fabricant’ (independent artisan) is worth noting, as this was no longer the case for all goldsmiths at the time.

The cup was commissioned by Henry Thomas Hope (1808-1862) a few years before the 1855 Paris exhibition, almost certainly following the success of Morel's work at the Universal Exhibition in London, where he attracted a great deal of attention, several of his pieces being purchased by the Museum of Ornamental Art and by English connoisseurs. Henry Thomas Hope, from a wealthy banking family, was passionate about the arts and amassed an exceptional collection. He was also a member of the Art Union of London and the Royal Botanic Society, and was one of the organizers of the 1851 Universal Exhibition: he was a member of the jury for the 23rd category (jewellery), which goes a long way to explaining his commission with Morel.

In 1855, the Hope Cup appeared as a triumph of lapidary art and the high point of Jean-Valentin Morel's career, who won the grand medal of honor: "Everyone saw in Paris, during the universal exhibition of 1855, the magnificent oriental jasper goblet created for Mr Hope of London [...]" remembers Dussieux in 1876, "all those figures and plants in embossed enameled gold, in the 16^th century style. The cup was created from a block of jasper weighing eighty pounds; it was the biggest piece of oriental jasper the world had ever seen, carving it took three years of work and the invention of numerous new techniques" (p.306).

Inspired by the Crown jewels and other hardstone collections of the 16^th and 17^th centuries, this 19^th-century masterpiece of lapidary art juxtaposes the monumental solidity of the jasper carving with the delicacy of the enameled gold base and its teeming detail, and has an exceptionally theatrical quality. It is an invaluable addition to the collections of the Musée d'Orsay, and from now on will take its place among the collection's masterpieces alongside Froment-Meurice's toilette de la duchesse de Parme and Diehl's médaillier.

• 1855
• H. 65.5; L. 50; D. 22 cm
• Bloodstone jasper, gold-plated silver base, remaining parts of the stand in embossed enameled gold, opaque and translucent enamel.
• Hallmark maître, Jean-Valentin Morel
• Signature on the jasper base: MOREL/1855