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Lot Essay
The present tray and the following lot which includes the cream-jug and one of two cups and saucers that, along with a teapot and a sugar-bowl, would have completed the service, may correspond to the déjeuner Bolvry nouvelle forme chinois decorated by L'Ecot and mentioned in the kiln records for 21 November 1779 [MNS, Archives, register Vl' 1, fol. 81vo].
Other déjeuners 'Bolvry' are in the collection of HRH Queen Elizabeth [dated 1780 and 1783, chinoiserie decoration on a pale blue and gilt mosaïque ground (Sèvres Porcelain from the Royal Collection, Exhibition Catalogue, Buckingham Palace, London, 1979-1980, no. 152)]; in the Rijksmuseum (dated 1779, enamelled with birds); sold Mes Ader, Picard, Tajan, Paris, 10 June 1991, lot 222 (decorated with flower sprays); formerly in the L. Marcel Collection and now in that of the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris [possibly that fired 9 September 1779 (MNS, Vj I, folio 356r)]
Equally, the present tray, cream-jug, cup and saucer may correspond to the service of this form fired on 9 September 1779 at the same time as the déjeuner 'Paris' in the Wallace Collection (C-407-413). The chinoiserie decoration on both is marine in theme. However, that on the Wallace Collection service includes few figures and would seem to depict naval battles. That on the present pieces incorporates people at various pursuits and has a whimsical charm typical of chinoiseries but lacking on the Wallace service. Regardless, the vignettes of stylized islands with rocks forming bridges and the painting of the architecture and the ships themselves is virtually identical and without question by the same talented hand. That L'Ecot would paint two such similar services at the same time seems plausible. If this is the case, then the service now in the Musée des arts décoratifs will likely be that fired in November of the same year.
See Tamara Préaud,"Sèvres, la Chine et les "chinoiseries" au XVIIIe siècle", Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, no. 47, 1989, pp. 39-50 for a detailed discussion of chinoiserie decoration at Sèvres and a listing of known déjeuners with such decoration regardless of the shape of the tray. See also Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, vol. II, pp. 624-628.
Other déjeuners 'Bolvry' are in the collection of HRH Queen Elizabeth [dated 1780 and 1783, chinoiserie decoration on a pale blue and gilt mosaïque ground (Sèvres Porcelain from the Royal Collection, Exhibition Catalogue, Buckingham Palace, London, 1979-1980, no. 152)]; in the Rijksmuseum (dated 1779, enamelled with birds); sold Mes Ader, Picard, Tajan, Paris, 10 June 1991, lot 222 (decorated with flower sprays); formerly in the L. Marcel Collection and now in that of the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris [possibly that fired 9 September 1779 (MNS, Vj I, folio 356r)]
Equally, the present tray, cream-jug, cup and saucer may correspond to the service of this form fired on 9 September 1779 at the same time as the déjeuner 'Paris' in the Wallace Collection (C-407-413). The chinoiserie decoration on both is marine in theme. However, that on the Wallace Collection service includes few figures and would seem to depict naval battles. That on the present pieces incorporates people at various pursuits and has a whimsical charm typical of chinoiseries but lacking on the Wallace service. Regardless, the vignettes of stylized islands with rocks forming bridges and the painting of the architecture and the ships themselves is virtually identical and without question by the same talented hand. That L'Ecot would paint two such similar services at the same time seems plausible. If this is the case, then the service now in the Musée des arts décoratifs will likely be that fired in November of the same year.
See Tamara Préaud,"Sèvres, la Chine et les "chinoiseries" au XVIIIe siècle", Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, no. 47, 1989, pp. 39-50 for a detailed discussion of chinoiserie decoration at Sèvres and a listing of known déjeuners with such decoration regardless of the shape of the tray. See also Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, vol. II, pp. 624-628.