Lot Essay
These plates are possibly those from a service purchased by Marie Herbin, Madame Lair, a Parisian marchand-mercier between 15 June and 25 October 1761, which probably included pieces decorated during an earlier period. David Peter's notes that there are eight plates from c. 1758 and five plates from c. 1761 in the Royal Collection, with decoration similar to that on the current set. There is a single plate, c. 1758 in the Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna while at Waddesdon Manor there is another c. 1761 and two of the same date in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. See David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century (Hertfordshire, 2005), Vol. II, p. 329.