A Sèvres porcelain plate from the Marly d'or service
"Assiette plate" model. Painted with a fluttering blue tit and a butterfly on a branch, inscribed below "La Mésange bleue." With beaded border and burnished gold palmettes. Signed below "Caron." Red stamped mark M.Imp.le de Sevres 1811, gilt 31.A.t B.T., incised DL and oL. D 23.8 cm.
1811, painted by Christophe-Ferdinand Caron.
The "Marly d'or" service was begun in 1805 and produced until the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1814. Like KPM's wedding services for the daughters of Frederick William III, the plates in this service were also decorated with differing motifs for the various courses, including genre scenes, mythological subjects, allegories, birds, and landscapes. The borders are etched with the same décor throughout, a typical trait of Sèvres services during this era. In 1809, Napoleon presented several pieces from this service to King Frederick August I of Saxony, which are still housed in the Porcelain Collection in Dresden to this day. Prince Schwarzenberg, the Austrian ambassador, also received several plates from the service in 1812. It's possible this plate is from the last delivery.
Provenance
Lower Saxon private collection.
Literature
Another plate painted by Caron in the Porzellansammlung Dresden in: Loesch, Die Napoleonische Schenkung 1809 Französisches Porzellan in Dresden, Dresden 1992, no. 37.