Literature

Gilt interlaced Ls with gilder’s mark for a member of the Weydinger family.

Probably a portrait of the Comte d’Angiviller, who in September 1780 was appointed to succeed Bertin as the King’s representative overseeing the Sèvres factory.

His features correspond closely to his portrait by Duplessis of 1779 now at Versailles, and he is wearing the cross of the military order of Saint Louis, which he obtained during his military career in the 1750s, and of which he was proud, as one finds it listed prominently in the texts of engravings dedicated to him.

His prominent nose and protruding chin are best seen in the earlier Greuze portrait of 1763 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

D’Angiviller’s meticulous administration of the Sèvres factory is visible through his correspondance with the director Régnier, and it is hardly surprising that he was honoured with a portrait medallion, though no trace of it has been found in the archives. But this is not the only case, and probably indicates that only a very few were produced, perhaps for presentation to the subject.