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Lot Essay
Although the present saucer-dishes are very similar to the service commissioned by Louis XV for Christian VII, King of Denmark, it seems more likely that these compotiers rond formed part of a lapis caillouté service apparently owned by Louis XVI, King of France and ordered by Louis XV in the 1760s. The service may possibly be from a large order received by the marchand-mercier Madame Lair in the first half of 1770. A Château de Versailles inventory of 1782 lists a Service Bleu Lapis et Or which included 4 compotier ronds. Further correspondence relating to the loan of Versailles servicewares in 1784 to Alexandre-Lemoine de Crécy, garde-général du Garde-Meuble in Paris and Compiègne and garde-particulière in Fontainbleau include items from a Bleu lapis et or service corresponding to the 1782 Versailles inventory. When the items were returned on 16 May 1784 4 compotiers rond were not accounted for. Louis XVI purchased supplements to this service during 1791 and 1792 although by this time the concept of lapis caillouté ornament would have been outmoded. These additional pieces have somewhat corser gilding of the caillouté ground when compared to the earlier 1760s wares of the same design. The collection of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey includes items from the later group of lapis caillouté servicewares made as additions in the 1791-92 period and also a group of wares dated c. 1767-70, one of which is a compotiers rond bearing the same marks as the present dishes, date letter P and painter's mark E for Claude Couturier. This could account for the missing 4 compotiers ronds from this service; the single example in the collection at Woburn Abbey and the three offered in these Rooms on 5 July 1974, of which two of these are offered here. For a full discussion of this service, see David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, Vol. II (Hertfordshire, 2005), pp. 429-432.
The Christian VII service was gifted to the King on his visit to Paris in 1768 following a seven month European tour which included a visit to the Sèvres porcelain factory. It was delivered in two parts during 1768 and 1769. The service is housed at the Danish Royal Collection at Slot Rosenborg and Slot Christiansborg.
The Christian VII service was gifted to the King on his visit to Paris in 1768 following a seven month European tour which included a visit to the Sèvres porcelain factory. It was delivered in two parts during 1768 and 1769. The service is housed at the Danish Royal Collection at Slot Rosenborg and Slot Christiansborg.