This plate comes from a lavish service which the King of France found so expensive that he refused to purchase it from the Sèvres factory.  Much of it is now in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, though this is one of the second and third plates sold by Adrian Sassoon. There are many iconographical details which show the major industries, arts, products and noteable characters from each region – these plates honour the areas around Marseilles and Dijon.