Sèvres Lot n° 252

Sèvres Covered porcelain juice pot from the rich gold and color frieze service of Marie-Antoinette or Gustave III of Sweden, with polychrome decoration of pansies in medallions surrounded by pearls on a blue ground, surrounded by a border of roses and barbels on purple ground braids. Marked: LL interlaced, letter-date GG for 1784, painter's mark Commelin. 18th century, 1784. H. 8 cm. PROVENANCE : Service decorated with rich colors and gold by Queen Marie-Antoinette or King Gustav III of Sweden. It was probably in December 1783 that the Queen expressed her intention to have a new porcelain service, probably for her apartments at the Tuileries Palace. The Sèvres factory then commissioned several painters to design samples with rich friezes. In a letter to the Comte d'Angiviller, dated February 12, 1784, Antoine Régnier, director of the manufactory, wrote: "La Reyne having told me that she would see an Assiette d'Echantillon during her dinner, she has chosen a 36-pound plate and ordered a whole service with the dishes. Her Majesty is in a hurry, and 22 workers are working on it". On May 3, 1784, Régnier announced that the service would be finished shortly. At this point, the painter Bouillat creates the decor for twelve juice jars for the Queen's service. In the spring of 1784, Gustave III of Sweden travels to France under the name of Count of Haga. On June 22, 1784, Louis XVI presented the Swedish sovereign with a traditional diplomatic gift, including the service for the Queen, described as richly decorated in color and gold. An Englishwoman visiting Paris, Mrs. Cradock, wrote in her diary on June 24, 1784: We went this morning after breakfast, to see a splendid service of Sèvres porcelain, which the King is giving as a present to the King of Sweden. The whole service is gilded and excellently painted (...) We returned full of admiration. The 211-piece service included twelve juice jars. The Manufacture de Sèvres then rushed to produce a second service with the same decoration, comprising 239 pieces including twelve juice jars, which was delivered to Queen Marie Antoinette on August 26, 17846. In September 1784, the King of Sweden commissioned the Manufacture de Sèvres to complete his service, including twelve additional juice jars. Several pieces from this service are now in the Musée du Château de Versailles, the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, the Musée de l'Ariana in Geneva and the Palais Royal in Stockholm. An important set from the services of Queen Marie-Antoinette and King Gustav III of Sweden was sold by Sotheby's in New York, Service de la Reine, May 18, 1996, lot 1-12. It included eight juice jars, four painted by Commelin and four by Buteux. Another important part, now kept at the Château de Versailles, was sold in Paris in 1993 (Hôtel Drouot, study Oger Dumont, December 15, 1996, lot 108). For a discussion of these services, see Selma Schwartz, catalog of the Marie-Antoinette exhibition, Paris, Grand Palais, March 15-June 30 2008, no. 165, p. 236 and David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, 2005, Vol. III, n 84-5, 84-8 and 84-10, p. 707-712, p. 717-724 and Vol. VI, p. 1362. Bibliographical notes 1 AN, O1 2060, pièce 4, quoted in Geoffrey de Bellaigue: The Louis XVI Service, Cambridge, 1986, p.8. 2 AN, O1 2061, pièce 26, id. 3 David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, 2005, Vol. VI, p. 1362. 4 - Arch. M.N.S., VY 9, f°136 v. The Sèvres porcelains offered to Gustave III are also mentioned in the Livre des Présents du Roi preserved in the archives of the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères: Juillet 1784 - Au Roi de Suède, lors de son voyage en voyage en France sous le nom de Cte de Haga : vases, groupes et autres ouvrages en porcelaine de Sève du prix de 38,432 livres 12 sols. (Arch. MRE, n° 2095, f. 35). 5 - Carl Christian Dauterman, The Wrightsman Collection, Vol. IV, New York, 1970, p. 160. 6 - Christian Baulez: Versailles, vers un Retour des Sèvres , Revue du Louvre, n°5/6, December 1991, p.70.