Sèvres Porcelain
Dia.9 5/8 in
Literature
In 1758 Louis XV's daughter Madame Adélaïde gave her elder sister Madame Louise Elisabeth, the Duchesse of Parma, a set of 12 plates decorated with bleu lapis ground and birds. In 1765 Fillippo, the Duke of Parma added hugely to this service and another large supplement of pieces was ordered and supplied in 1769.
The 1765 delivery for the Filippo, Duke of Parma, son-in-law of Louis XV of France was sent from the factory in April but the Duke died in July of that year. It was purchased through the Parma court's agent in Paris, Claude Bonnet. The service is clearly identified in a 1768 inventory. His son Ferdinando at that time sent an order to Paris through the agent Jean-?Dominique Testard acting for him to enlarge this sumptuous service from being used for 12 guests to 24. Interestingly this order even included at least one accurate drawing of a 1765 circular tray already in Parma being sent to Sèvres so that the piece and pattern could be accurately copied. That drawing survives in the Sèvres archives.
This plate is one of 36 supplied in 1765 costing 42 livres each.
A large part of this service is in a private collection in New York assembled in the last 30 years.