MOST DATED 1802-03, SEVERAL DATED 1803-06, IRON-RED STENCILED SEVRES MARKS WITH DATE CYPHER //, VARIOUS INCISED MARKS AND PAINTER'S MARKS, INCLUDING SEVERAL FOR HIREL DE CHOISY

Details

A SEVRES (HARD PASTE) PORCELAIN PART DINNER AND DESSERT SERVICE
MOST DATED 1802-03, SEVERAL DATED 1803-06, IRON-RED STENCILED SEVRES MARKS WITH DATE CYPHER //, VARIOUS INCISED MARKS AND PAINTER'S MARKS, INCLUDING SEVERAL FOR HIREL DE CHOISY
Painted with sunflowers and trailing vines of forget-me-nots and five-petaled purple flowers, comprising: a soup tureen and cover; four graduated circular platters, one possibly a stand to the tureen; two pierced oval baskets; two oval butter-boxes, covers and stands; a scroll-handed sauceboat and oval stand; two footed salad bowls; two footed cake stands; two two-handled monteiths; two navette-shaped dishes; two circular footed low compotes; two oval footed compotes; four triangular dishes; four octagonal dishes; a large canted square dish; an oval footed sugar-bowl and cover; three graduated oval platters; ten soup plates; and forty-two dinner plates
15 in. (38.1 cm.) diameter, the largest circular platter

Provenance

Emperor Napoléon.
Purchased by Napoleon 30 June 1806 for M. François, former Bishop of Rennes, on the occasion of the marriage of princess Stéphanie de Beauharnais to the prince of Baden.
Acquired from Adrian Sassoon, London, 1999.

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Lot Essay

The present service was purchased by Emperor Napoléon as a gift to the former Bishop of Rennes, M. François, on the occasion of the marriage of his niece and adopted daughter, Stéphanie de Beauharnais (1789-1860). As Princesse Française, Stéphanie enjoyed the luxuries associated with membership of the Imperial family, taking residence in the Palais de Tuileries. Her marriage on 8 April 1806 to Karl Ludwig Friedrich, prince of Baden, was political, arranged by Napoléon to forge an alliance with the Grand Dukes of Baden.
Although Napoleon purchased the service for the former Bishop in 1806, it was entered into the Sèvres magasin de vente the previous year (Vu1.fol.8 v.). See C. Leprince, Napoléon 1er & Sèvres, L'Art de la porcelaine au service de l'Empire, Paris, 2016, p. 259, no. 65 for more information on the original order, including a full listing of the service's components.

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