CIRCA 1782, BLUE CROWNED INTERLACED L'S MARK AND GILDER'S MARK FOR LE GUAY L'AINE TO THE TEAPOT, INCISED IV TO ONE FOOT OF THE CREAM-JUG

The type of gilt figures Etrusques decoration on the present teapot and cream-jug first appears at the Sèvres manufactory in 1782 and has been associated with items made for the royal household. In 1782 a large toilette service of over sixty pieces and gilt with Etruscan friezes was presented by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, and her spouse Grand Duke Paul (later Czar Paul I). The Sèvres sale records of that same year also note a 'cabaret etrusque' being sent to Madame Elisabeth, youngest sibling of Louis XVI, at Versailles at a price of 360 livres. (The example made for Madame Elisabeth is likely the same example described in the 1772 'enfournements' records as a 'dejeuner Debleuf... beau bleu, decore en etrusque' and gilt by Pithou.)

For a further discussion of this type of Estruscan frieze decoration, exemplified by a blue-ground ecuelle and a tea-kettle at the Art Institute of Chicago, see G. Zelleke, "Sèvres Porcelain of the 1780's decorated in Neoclassical style with Etruscan figures in gold in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection", The French Porcelain Society Journal, vol. III, 2007, pp. 141-149.

Étienne-Henry Le Guay l'aîné is recorded as a gilder and painter of friezes in the manufactory from 1748-49 and 1751-96.