CIRCA 1790, THE DIAL SIGNED 'LENOIR A PARIS', THE PORCELAIN WITH RED STENCILLED FACTORY MARK,

The Duc d'Angoulème porcelain factory was established by the partners Guérhard and Dihl in 1780 under the protection of the duc d'Angoulème, son of the comte d'Artois. Recorded in the Rue Bondy (or rue du Temple), they specialized in the production of extremely fine quality biscuit and hard-paste porcelain, as well as jasper plaques in imitation of Wedgwood. A version of the biscuit figure of a putto reading can be seen in the background of a portrait of Dihl dated 1797 by Etienne Charles Le Guay, see Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, Faïence et porcelaine de Paris, XVIII - XIX siècles, Paris, 1995, p. 96. fig. 63; see also p. 97, fig. 64 for a pair of biscuit figures of the same models as those on the present lot in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A related clock, with a movement by Schmit, was sold Christie's, New York, 19 October 2006, lot 181.