Lot 375: 19 Pc Sevres De Fountainbleau Porcelain Hunting Service, c. 1845

Nineteen (19) pieces of Sevres porcelain from the Chateau De Fontainebleau hunting service, commissioned by King Louis Philippe. Circa 1845. Includes one (1) large serving bowl, 11 in. dia. x 3 5/8 in. H; twelve (12) salad plates, 7 3/4 in. dia.; two (2) dinner plates, 9 1/2 in. dia.; one (1) teacup and matching saucer; one (1) shallow bowl, 5 3/8 in. dia.; and one (1) bread and butter plate, 5 1/2 in. dia. Undersides with royal and factory marks used 1845-1848. Note: A devoted patron of the Sevres Factories, King Louis Phillipe of France commissioned large porcelain dinner services for each of his official residences. The de Fontainebleau service order was initiated in 1836 and deliveries continued through the early 1840s. The service was augmented by additional orders made through 1847. The marks on these pieces indicate they were from this final order. The service was designed with two different though complementary borders. The design on the present dishes is the less complex of the two. It features a foliate arabesque border entwined with birds and animals, and oval reserves containing various emblems and ornaments, and diamond shaped reserves enclosing the royal cipher.  According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which owns a soup plate from this collection, “Louis-Philippe’s initial order for the service had specified that it ‘would bear a bas-relief in the Renaissance style,’ a direct reference to the chateau’s Renaissance origins and distinctive character. The service as finally designed did not specifically reflect the king’s request, but the leafy borders recall the nearby extensive forest, and the animals entwined in the foliage allude to the hunting for which the Chateau was famous.” https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/198016

PROVENANCE: Private Alabama collection. 

CONDITION: Overall good condition. One salad plate with minor gilt wear to the rim. One saucer with wear to the central medallion.