A SÈVRES (HARD PASTE) BLUE-GROUND PLATE FROM THE SERVICE DES ART INDUSTRIELS painted with chefs in a kitchen making pies, in the foreground game, eggs and some cooked pies, a cat roaming beside a table named below Pâtissier,/Grosse Pâtisserie. on a dull gilt label, within a well of concentric gilt lines, the border with richly gilt diaper-pattern enclosing quatrefoils between two concentric bands of myrtle leaves and gilt line rim, incised 18-7 and script fcl marks, 9 fév.19 in green, A 23 y.r. in gilt, grey printed mark enclosing fleur-de-lys above Sèvres 21., 1820-1835

The Property of a Gentleman TWENTY-FOUR SÈVRES (HARD PASTE) BLUE-GROUND PLATES FROM THE SERVICE DES ARTS INDUSTRIELS PAINTED BY JEAN-CHARLES DEVELLY The Sèvres Service des Arts Industriels was made between 1820 and 1835, it's production spanned the reign of three kings of France, Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe. It was finally purchased in 1836 by Louis Philippe as a gift for Prince von Metternich, to whom it was delivered on 16 May 1836. Today the service provides us with a remarkable record of early 19th century social history and an almost photographic insight into the working and techniques of a wide variety of crafts of this period, from the intricacies of making jewellery to the hard labour of refining saltpetre. Alexandre Brongniart, director of the Manufacture Royal at Sèvres and son of the famous architect Théodore Brongniart almost certainly initiated the production of this service. A document in his own handwriting exists in the Sèvres archives, it gives an idea of the composition and decoration of the service and its progress up to November 1828. Jean-Charles Develly, one of the most gifted painters, was chosen to decorate the service; the scenes are all taken from life rather than from engravings as was more usual. Brongniart arranged for Develly to visit many different factories and workshops in and around Paris; for this he was paid 10 francs for each day away plus expenses such as travelling. He made detailed drawings of each factory, taking individual figures and doing separeate drawings of them and making a detailed drawing of each tool which was in us. The most significant surviving group of drawings are in the Archives of the Manufacture National de Céramique, Sèvres, Bequest of Marcell Brunet, 1987. For a full discussion of Develly's work see Marcelle Brunet, 'Jean-Charles Develly et le manufacture de Sèvres', Carnet de la sabretache, 5th series, vol. 6, 1960, pp. 444-451. Apart from this service Develly was entirely responsible for painting four other Sèvres services 'Service des Objets de dessert' (1819-20); 'Service de la culture des fleurs' (1821-24); 'Service Agronomique', the rural equivalent to the 'Service des Arts Industriels'; and the 'Service Animaux' (1841-48). He also took part in the painting of ten other services. He worked at Sèvres from 1813-1849. The techniques of production of the service were somewhat unusual, the blue ground was applied first, then the gilding followed by the transfer by Develly of his drawings on paper onto the centre of each plate. Develly rubbed graphite over the back of the drawing and then with a pointed tool traced the outline of the drawing onto each plate. This was then painted in at least two stages the ébauche ou première peinture (rough sketch) and the retouche (retouching). The plate went into the ébauche kiln and then into the retouche kiln. There could be more than one retouche firing. Finally each plate went into the kiln to fire the gilt circle around each painting. Each plate cost 167.45 francs to produce, the largest part of this being the painting by Develly which cost 114.55 francs. They were sold for 200 francs each. The plates are all inscribed with the productions they represent, some are signed on the front by Develly. On the reverse the incised marks indicate the date the plate was thrown, the green inscriptions are the date the blue ground was applied and the printed marks vary according to which king was on the throne when the plate was finished. Prior to its purchase part of the service was exhibited at the annual Industrial Exhibitions in the Louvre in 1828 and 1829. In 1828 the service appeared as no. 13 of the printed catalogues, forty-eight plates and the two ice-cream coolers were shown. The next year 21 more plates were described in the catalogue under no. 9. When the service was delivered the following entry appeared in the sales records: "Livré sur l'ordre du Roi, à M. de Metternich, le 16 mai 1836, Service des arts industriels 108 Assiettes du dit service 200 21,600 8 Compotiers Coupes id. 36 288 8 do à bourrelet id. 36 288 2 Corbeilles Jasmin id. 150 300 4 do basses 50 200 2 Glacières vase id. 900 1,800 4 Jattes à fruits id 260 1,040 2 Sucriers melissin id. 275 550 4 Etagères id 200 800 26,866 Plus, 9 boites pour assiettes à 18 (etc.)...162". One hundred and nineteen plates were made in all and the eleven not delivered probably included eight depicting the Manufacture Royale. Very few pieces of this service are known. Apart from six plates and the two ice-cream coolers in the Musée Nationaux de Ceramique, Sèvres see Marcelle Brunet and Tamara Préaud, Sèvres Des origines à nos jours, no.358 and Antoinette Fay-Hallé and Tamara Préaud, Porcelaines de Sèvres au XIXe siècle, pp. 14-15, nos. 64-69. Four plates are in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, see Jeffrey Munger, et al., The Forsyth Wickes Collection in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, pp. 209-211. The Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, The Rhode Island School of Design and The Cooper-Hewitt Museum each have one plate. Two plates belong to a private collector in France and were exhibited in New York in 1989. For an extensive article on which these notes are based see Pierre Ennès "Four Plates from the Sèvres Service Des Arts industriels (1820-1835), Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, vol. 2, 1990, pp. 89-106 PROVENANCE: Prince von Metternich Nicolas of Rumania (brother of King Carol) Duke of Nemur

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A SÈVRES (HARD PASTE) BLUE-GROUND PLATE FROM THE SERVICE DES ART INDUSTRIELS painted with chefs in a kitchen making pies, in the foreground game, eggs and some cooked pies, a cat roaming beside a table named below Pâtissier,/Grosse Pâtisserie. on a dull gilt label, within a well of concentric gilt lines, the border with richly gilt diaper-pattern enclosing quatrefoils between two concentric bands of myrtle leaves and gilt line rim, incised 18-7 and script fcl marks, 9 fév.19 in green, A 23 y.^r. in gilt, grey printed mark enclosing fleur-de-lys above Sèvres 21., 1820-1835
23.5cm. diam.