Paris – For our prestigious Furniture & Decorative Arts auction on May 31, Elsa Kozlowski, department director and auctioneer, will present part of a 19th century Sèvres service with an agate blue background and a decor from King Louis-Philippe service for the châteaux of Saint-Cloud and Compiègne, comprising :
– 3 milk pots
– 2 decoction pots
– 3 covered sugar pots
– 6 egg cups
– 6 compotiers
– 12 dessert plates
– 18 bread plates
– 6 small compotiers
The agate blue background appeared on Sèvres hard porcelain as early as 1773. It was then called blue agate. Among the first porcelains decorated with this new background were those of King Louis XV, who in August 1773 bought a pair of blue agate ear vases decorated with the portraits of Madame and Madame Elisabeth.
Around the same period, porcelains with an agate and dolphin grey background were also in circulation. Were these new variations of the background? Or were they additional names? It will continue to raise questions, associated in the 19th century with fashionable decorations: historical scenes, cameo portraits, animals, flowers, etc.
In January 1832, a new blue agate service was delivered for the castle of Saint-Cloud and then Compiègne from January 1833. It is described as a blue agate background with a frieze of palmettes printed in gold rosettes in the middle of the pieces service. The deliveries specify that it is intended for the Service of the King. Between 1832 and 1847, these pieces were delivered for both residences. In 1848, the service was transferred to the Hôtel de Matignon, then called the Hôtel Cavaignac, where the President of the Council of Ministers resided, a position held by Louis-Eugène Cavaignac (1802-1857) between June and December 1848. A part also remains with the castle of Saint-Cloud by decision of February 13, 1854, while Compiègne was given the beautiful blue service with vermiculated background.
DISCOVER “17TH-19TH CENTURY DECORATIVE ARTS” AUCTION
AUCTION’S INFORMATIONS
Furniture & Decorative Arts
May 31, 2023
Tajan, 37 rue des Mathurins, 75008 Paris
CONTACT
Elsa Kozlowski
Auctioneer and Department Director
T. +33 1 53 30 30 39
[email protected]