Lot Essay
The Sèvres Service des Arts Industriels was made between 1820 and 1835. It was finally purchased by King Louis-Philippe as a gift for Prince von Metternich, to whom it was delivered on 16 May 1836.
Alexandre Brongniart, director of the Manufacture Royale at Sèvres, almost certainly initiated production of the service. He chose Jean-Charles Develly, one of the most gifted painters, to execute the decoration, all the scenes being taken from life rather than engravings which would have been more usual.
The techniques of production of the service were somewhat unusual; the blue ground was applied first, then the gilding followed by the transfer by Develly of his drawings on paper on to the centre of each plate. Develly rubbed graphite over the back of the drawing and then with a pointed tool traced the outline of the drawing on to each plate. This was then painted in at least two stages, the ébauche ou première peinture (rough sketch) and the retouche (retouching). The plate went into the ébauche kiln and then into the retouche kiln. There could be more than one retouche firing. Finally the plate went into the kiln to fire the gilt circle around each painting. Each plate cost 167.45 francs to produce and were finally sold for 200 francs each. One hundred and nineteen plates were made in all.
For an extensive article on this service see Pierre Ennès, "Four Plates from the Sèvres Service des arts industriels (1820-1835)", Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 2, 1990, pp. 89-106
Alexandre Brongniart, director of the Manufacture Royale at Sèvres, almost certainly initiated production of the service. He chose Jean-Charles Develly, one of the most gifted painters, to execute the decoration, all the scenes being taken from life rather than engravings which would have been more usual.
The techniques of production of the service were somewhat unusual; the blue ground was applied first, then the gilding followed by the transfer by Develly of his drawings on paper on to the centre of each plate. Develly rubbed graphite over the back of the drawing and then with a pointed tool traced the outline of the drawing on to each plate. This was then painted in at least two stages, the ébauche ou première peinture (rough sketch) and the retouche (retouching). The plate went into the ébauche kiln and then into the retouche kiln. There could be more than one retouche firing. Finally the plate went into the kiln to fire the gilt circle around each painting. Each plate cost 167.45 francs to produce and were finally sold for 200 francs each. One hundred and nineteen plates were made in all.
For an extensive article on this service see Pierre Ennès, "Four Plates from the Sèvres Service des arts industriels (1820-1835)", Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 2, 1990, pp. 89-106