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Lot Essay
The present two plates are similarly decorated to those supplied to the Court at Parma through its agent M. Bonnet on 14 May 1765. 148 plates from this dessert service are retained at the Palais du Quirinal, Rome. Three of the cheese dishes and two biscuit figures from the original set are in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
A plate with date letter M for 1765 and painter's mark for Thévenet is in the British Museum. A plate with date letter P for 1768 and painter's mark for Pierre le jeune from the collection of Charles-Otto Zieseniss was sold Christie's Paris, 6 December 2001, lot 127. A set of ten plates with date letter K for 1763 and a pair of plates with date letter S for 1771 were sold Sotheby's London, 14 July 1998, lots 74, 76. In addition, fifteen plates dated 1783 from the collection of Florence J. Gould were sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 27 June 1984, lot 1537.
Given the number of examples extant made nearly twenty years after the original service, there was either a large order for supplemental pieces to this service or, more likely, a second service made with similar decoration. The present two examples are interesting in that they permit an immediate comparison of ground colors between the two productions.
A plate with date letter M for 1765 and painter's mark for Thévenet is in the British Museum. A plate with date letter P for 1768 and painter's mark for Pierre le jeune from the collection of Charles-Otto Zieseniss was sold Christie's Paris, 6 December 2001, lot 127. A set of ten plates with date letter K for 1763 and a pair of plates with date letter S for 1771 were sold Sotheby's London, 14 July 1998, lots 74, 76. In addition, fifteen plates dated 1783 from the collection of Florence J. Gould were sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 27 June 1984, lot 1537.
Given the number of examples extant made nearly twenty years after the original service, there was either a large order for supplemental pieces to this service or, more likely, a second service made with similar decoration. The present two examples are interesting in that they permit an immediate comparison of ground colors between the two productions.