CIRCA 1866, BLACK PRINTED 'CREIL/L M & CIE/MONTEREAU/MODELE/E.ROUSSEAU A/PARIS' MARKS, IMPRESSED MARKS

The 'Service Rousseau' is considered to be one of the earliest interpretations of Japonisme in French decorative arts. Inspired by Hokusai's woodcuts that Felix Bracquemond had 'discovered' in 1856, the service was exhibited to great acclaim at the Paris Exhibitions of 1867, 1878 and 1889, the London Exhibition of 1871 and the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. Bracquemond's engravings for this service were so successfully reproduced that the designs were continued into the 20th Century.

For a discussion of this service see Philippe Thibaut et al, 'Art, Industrie et Japonism, Le Service 'Rousseau', Exhibition Catalogue, Muse d'Orsay, 7 March - 26 June 1988, and Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, Fäience et Porcelaine de Paris, Dijon, 1995, p. 209, pl. 201. E.