Lot Essay
The present plate is similar in decoration to two bleu lapis services presented by Louis XV through the auspices of the Ministry for Foreign Affaires to the diplomats responsible for signing of the Treaty of Paris that brought a close to the Seven Years War. Differences in decoration and the discrepancy between the manufacturing date of 1780 paired with the painter's mark for Nicolas Catrice, a flower painter active 1757-1774, point to the fact that the present plate may have been decorated in the 19th century in the style of the two above-mentioned diplomatic gifts.