{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O71045"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O71045/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AG7027/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AG7027/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AG7027","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GR0322","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Qatar Museums Authority","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009CB8763","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BB4649","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AU9197","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O71045/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O71045","accessionNumber":"C.440-1921","objectType":"Tray","titles":[{"title":"Plateau (de d.)","type":"manufacturer's title"}],"summaryDescription":"The Vincennes factory had a connection to the French crown from its inception as it was established in 1740 in the royal fortress of the Château de Vincennes to the east of Paris.  There, a handful of porcelain specialists started experimenting with porcelain as huge prices were paid by wealthy aristocrats for this glassy white substance which for the most part had to be imported from East Asia or from the Meissen factory in what is now Germany.  It was the Saxon ruler Augustus the Strong who had led the drive in Europe to emulate Chinese porcelains and his Meissen factory was established in about 1710. During the early 1740s the majority of Vincennes' products were probably experimental as the porcelain body and enamel colours were was still being developed.  By the  late 1740s however, their products were accomplished with a wide range of enamel colours in use, followed from 1748 by gilding and, from 1752 onwards, the use of rich ground colours.  By 1756 Vincennes had outgrown its workshops in the old château and the factory transferred to specially constructed premises at Sèvres.  The Royal Manufactory specialised in exceptionally luxurious objects, many destined for the French court. Capable of startling innovation, the factory produced a constantly evolving repertoire to suit the changing tastes of its clients.  Sèvres porcelain was admired and collected by the royal, noble and wealthy elite throughout Europe, and was also widely imitated.\n\nTea drinking never became as fashionable in France as in other European countries. But the practice existed at an aristocratic level as an alternative to the usual coffee and chocolate. So-called cabaret sets or <i>déjeuners</i> consisted of complete services on a tray for just one or two people. The Sèvres factory gave them the most luxurious treatment, since its patrons were the wealthiest members of French society. The service was orginally owned by a German aristocrat, Christian IV, Duke of Zweibrücken (1722-1775).\n\nRosalind Savill has researched this interesting service and discovered that Christian IV, known as the <i>duc des Deux-Ponts</i> in France, actually bought four <i>déjeuners</i> on 14th June 1775, costing an exorbitant 840 <i>livres</i>each.  They all had the most expensive type of decoration, a richly gilded ground colour and decoration of miniature painted scenes.  The Duke was a great francophile and we know he also loved porcelain.  He actually had his own porcelain factory in Zweibrücken, whose mark was his PZ monogram.  It operated from 1767 until the Duke's death in 1775.  Two of the other three services have been traced in auction house records and are presumably in private hands today.  They were identified by their distinctive PN monogram - it appears the Sèvres gilder mistook the Duke's <i>PZ</i> monogram for <i>PN</i>.","physicalDescription":"Porcelain tray with <i>rose</i>pink ground, painted in colours and gilt.  The two large reserves show country scenes; one with a young woman feeding chickens, to her left there is a rustic cottage with a water butt and a child seated on the ground holding up an egg, the other with the same young woman seated spinning and a young man leaning on a fence to her left, they are both watching the little boy turning a somersault, his shoes kicked off nearby.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Bouchet, Jean","id":"A15325"},"association":{"text":"enamel painter","id":"x30573"},"note":"Jean Bouchet was recorded at Vincennes/Sèvres from 1757 to 1793."}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Sèvres porcelain factory","id":"A406"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"porcelain","id":"AAT10662"},{"text":"enamels","id":"AAT14910"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"},{"text":"glazed","id":"AAT53914"},{"text":"gilt","id":"AAT53789"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Porcelain painted in colours and gilt","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Porcelain","id":"THES48907"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006AG7027","2013GR0322","2009CB8763","2006BB4649","2006AU9197"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"1","id":"THES263059"},"free":"","case":"CA13","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Tray","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Sèvres","id":"x29522"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1775","earliest":"1775-01-01","latest":"1775-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by D. M. Currie","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"35","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"10⅛","unit":"in","qualifier":"imperial measurement from register","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Owner's monogram 'PN'.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Marked with interlaced Ls and a tree in blue.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"In Rosalind Savill's article she convincingly argues that this service is one of four <i>déjeuners</i> bought by Christian IV, Duke of Zweibrücken, known as the <i>duc des Deux-Ponts</i> in France.  The Sèvres sales records show him listed on 14th June 1775 taking receipt of them.  According to Savill each cost an exorbitant 840 <i>livres</i> and the decoration was described as<i> mignatures</i>.  All four can be identified by their distinctive PN monogram - it appears the Sèvres gilder mistook the Z for an N.  Two of the other three services have been traced by Savill: a yellow ground tea service was sold at Christie's in 1979 with cherubs in landscapes by Fontaine, minus the cups and saucers and  a green ground coffee service with bucolic figure scenes after Boucher was sold in the Baron Schroder sale of 1910.  They are presumably in private collections still today.  The fate of the fourth service is unknown.\n\nZweibrücken is a Duchy in the Rhine Palatinate and the Duke had his own porcelain factory there, whose mark is a PZ monogram.  It operated from 1767 until the Duke's death in 1775. Christian IV (1722-1775) was a keen francophile.  He was a friend of Mme. de Pompadour who gave him an expensive gift of a Vincennes turquoise ground tureen and plateau costing 900<i> livres</i> through the offices of the <i>marchand-mercier</i> Lazare Duvaux.  We know from his records that Duvaux also supplied a silver liner costing an additional 140 <i>livres.  </i>Savill suggests that the Duke bought his services when he was staying at his Paris residence (the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts) after attending the coronation of Louis XVI in Rheims on 11th June 1775.\r\n\r\nPreviously it was in the collection of the 2nd Earl of Lonsdale, Lonsdale most likely purchased this from the French marchand de curiosite Max who sold it to him for 300 francs in 1835-36. It was then sold to Currie for £845 5s in 1879. For more information please see: Rosalind Savill, The 2nd Earl of Lonsdale, 2007, French Porcelain Society Journal. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Porcelain tray with rose ground, painted in colours and gilt, Sèvres, 1775, painted by Jean Bouchet.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hildyard, Robin. <font u>European Ceramics</font u>. London : V&A Publications, 1999. 144 p., ill. ISBN 185177260X"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Savill, Rosalind: A Sèvres Porcelain Tea Service in the Victoria and Albert Museum with Surprising Credentials, French Porcelain Society Journal, Vol. II, 2005, pp. 39-46."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Tea service\r\nAbout 1775\n\nThis is one of four Sèvres services ordered by Christian IV, the Duc des Deux-Ponts in the Rhineland. Two were for coffee, and all were for three people. The service is painted with country scenes with farm labourers and huntsmen, popular subjects at Sèvres for luxury tea and coffee wares. Unlike many Sèvres cups, which could be used interchangeably for tea, coffee or chocolate, the cups here were specifically for tea.\r\n\r\nFrance (Paris)\r\nMade at the Sèvres factory\r\nPainted by Jean Bouchet\r\nPorcelain painted in enamels and gilded\r\nBequeathed by D.M. Currie\r\n","date":{"text":"09/12/2015","earliest":"2015-12-09","latest":"2015-12-09"}}],"partNumbers":["C.440-1921"],"accessionNumberNum":"440","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1921,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN2612","2019LR4817","2019LV1740","2019LW1909"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2002-11-28","availableToBook":false}}