European Decorative Arts and Sculpture Plate from a Dinner Service 1784 Made by the Sèvres porcelain factory, Sèvres, France, 1756 - present. Decorated by Cyprien-Julien Hirel de Choisy, French, active 1770 - 1812. Soft-paste porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration * Gallery 269, European Art 1500-1850, second floor (Boyer Gallery) 2002-220-1 Gift of Miss Letitia Roberts, 2002 |
LabelIn January of 1784, Marie-Antoinette, queen of France, ordered a dinner service for use in her newly redecorated apartments at the Tuileries palace in Paris. The service, numbering two hundred and fifteen pieces, was completed in May 1784. However, before it could be delivered, King Louis XVI presented the service as a diplomatic gift to Gustave III, the ruler of Sweden, on the occasion of his visit to Paris. Marie-Antoinette, determined to have a service without further delay, ordered the Sèvres factory to continue production of the pattern, and in August of the same year she received two hundred and thirty-nine pieces. Many of the same painters worked on both sets of porcelain, and it is therefore difficult to determine the service from which this plate comes.* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit. |
