CIRCA 1757-58, BLUE INTERLACED L MARKS ENCLOSING DATE LETTER E, INCISED CD (?) NEAR FOOTRIM

This plate is probably from one of two services sold by the factory in 1760: one service was sold on the 29 March to the Marquis de Paulmy, the other during the second quarter of 1760 to Madame Lair. Antoine-René de Voyer d'Argenson, Marquis de Paulmy, was Minister of War (1757-58), French Ambassador to Poland (1760-64), Ambassador Extraordinary of Saxony (1760-63) and Ambassador to Venice (1767-8). Madame Marie Herbin Lair was a marchand-mercier whose name appears regularly in the Sèvres sales records. She was the widow of Michel-Joseph Lair, and successor in business to Gilles Bazin, rue de Roule, Paris. Both services are discussed by David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, Little Berkhamsted, 2005, pp. 317-320, service nos. 60-1 and 60-2. Another example of a plate from this service was sold by Christie's, London, on 12 May 2010, lot 235.

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