CIRCA 1759-60, BLUE INTERLACED L MARKS ENCLOSING DATE LETTERS F TO ONE AND G TO THE OTHER, THE FIRST WITH BRANCH PAINTER'S MARK POSSIBLY FOR JEAN-BAPTISTE NOUALHIER AND INCISED A AND X MARKS, THE SECOND WITH PAINTER'S MARK S FOR PIERRE-ANTOINE MEREAUD AND INCISED BU (?) MARK

The branch mark appears on flower-decorated wares in the period 1754-65 and is cautiously attributed to Jean-Baptiste Noualhier, l'aîné; he is thought to have been active at the Vincennes and Sèvres manufactory between 1753 and 1755 and 1757 to 1766. Pierre-Antoine Méreaud was a painter of flowers and patterns, and also a gilder, active at the factory from 1754 to 1791. A similar plate was sold in the Zieseniss Collection at Christie's in Paris, 5-6 December 2001, lot 119 (part). A pair of ice-pails and covers, with date letters F and H, one with a painter's mark for Méreaud, and decorated with a flower pattern with blue C-scroll borders were sold at Christie's, London, 18 May 1999, lot 112.