The cypher is that of Frederick Augustus III, The Just (1750-1827) who succeeded his father, Frederick Christian, in 1763. Frederick Christian, the third son of Augustus II, had reigned for a mere two months. A Regency was set up which governed Saxony until Frederick Augustus's coming-of-age in 1768. Although he was forced to retrench to pay the vast debts incurred by his grandfather and great-grandfather, Frederick Augustus nevertheless added to the already prodigious silver holdings in the Hofsilberkammer and this dish and cover were evidently made as additions to the great gilt service begun in 1714 and augmented in 1733. In 1791 he was offered the crown of Poland but he declined, remembering the ravages Saxony had endured during the Silesian Wars. After the Napoleonic Wars his kingdom was partitioned and, while two-thirds went to Prussia, he was allowed the remaining third and to retain his title of King. He was succeeded in 1827 by his brother Anton I.