A fine and important Sèvres Royal 'Déjeuner' for the Château d'Eu circa 1844

the large oval tray painted with a titled view of the Château d'Eu, signed Lebel 1843, within a gilt frame and 'jewelled' border flanking the royal arms of France, the rim with trophy vignettes within gilt scrolling foliage, the teapot and cover, milk jug, sucrier and cover and four cups painted with a titled cameau profile portrait of either 'louis-philippe 1er. roi des français.', 'a.m.l. d'orléans dse.  de montpensier', 'l.m.a. de bourbon-penthièvre dsse. d'orleans', 'henri ier. de lorraine duc de guise', 'l.a. de bourbon duc du maine', 'l.j.m. de bourbon duc de penthièvre'. or 'a.l.b. de bourbon dsse. du maine',  the sides with the royal arms of France within drapery, the scroll handle with burnished gilding, gilt interior, the four saucers each painted with a titled view including 'La table des guises dans le Parc d'eu, en 1842', 'porte du parc d'eu dite du Bassin, en 1842', 'pavillon de Mlle de penthievre dans le Parc d'eu, en 1842', 'vue du château d'eu prise du Bassin, en 1842' , all within a fitted leather-bound carrying case, tooled with poppyheads and gilt banding and with a key

The Sèvres archive records that the service came into the ownership of Queen Maria-Amelia, 1st June 1846

The Louvre, Paris, 3rd June 1844 - 'L'exposition des manufactures royales de porcelaines et vitraux de Sèvres, de tapisseries at tapis de Beauvais' 

Exhibition catalogue, the Louvre, Paris, 3rd June 1844, p.18, no.23 where it is listed as 'DÉJEUNER, - Vues diverses du château et du parc d'Eu

Sur le plateau: Vue du château d'Eu

Sur la théière: Portrait en camée du Roi

Sur le pot à sucre: Mme de Bourbon-Penthièvre, duchesse d'Orléans.

Sur le pot à lait: Mme la duchesse de Montpensier

Sur les tasses: Le duc de Penthièvre, Le duc de Guise, Le duc du Maine, La duchesse du Maine

Sur les soucoupes: Vue du pavillon de Mlle de Penthièvre, Vue de la table des Guises, Vue de la porte du parc d'Eu, dite du Bassin, Vue du château d'Eu, vue prise de bassin

Les portraits en camée sont de M.MORIOT, Les paysages, de M. LE BEL 

The paper label attached to the teapot cover is inscribed  in ink, no25 - 1 Dejeuner - portrait en caméu des prince et princessee qui ont habité le château d'Eu

1 Plateau oval       1200

4 tasse A B 340 1  1360

1 theière A B            325

1 pot à lait                  275

1 pot à sucre              275

1 Boite                         140

                                    3675

 

 

Born in Paris in 1773, Louis-Philippe Joseph, Duc d’Orleans, was descended directly from King Louis XIII. He served as the "Orleanist" King of the French from 1830 to 1848. In 1809 he married Princess Marie Amalie of Bourbon-Sicilies (1782-1866) who was later to become known as Queen Amelia.

After the abdication of Napoleon in 1815, Louis-Philippe returned to live in France following a long period of travelling abroad - including a four-year stay in Philadelphia – claiming sympathy with the liberated citizens of the country. With the restoration of the monarchy under his cousin King Louis XVIII and then under the reign of Louis’ brother, King Charles X, the popularity of Louis-Philippe grew.

In 1830, the July Revolution overthrew the repressive regime of Charles X. Louis-Philippe was proclaimed the new king and he took the style of "King of the French". For a few years he ruled in an unpretentious fashion, avoiding the arrogance, pomp and lavish spending of his predecessors. Despite this outward appearance of simplicity, Louis-Philippe’s support came from the wealthy middle classes. At first he was much loved and called the ‘Citizen King’, but his popularity suffered as his government was perceived as increasingly conservative and monarchical. Under his management the conditions of the working classes deteriorated, and the income gap widened considerably. An economic crisis in 1847 led to another revolution and in February 1848 he abdicated in favour of his young grandson. Fearful of what had happened to his predecessors during the revolution of 1789, he quickly disguised himself and fled to England under the assumed name of Mr.Smith. In the meantime, the National Assembly accepted Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as Louis-Philippe’s successor and within a year he had named himself Emperor Napoleon III.

Louis-Philippe and his family continued to live in England until his death on 26th August 1850 in Claremont, Surrey.

One of Louis-Philippe's palaces, the Château d'Eu is today a museum devoted to the king's memory.

For a Sèvres tray from the déjeuner ‘L’Art de la Porcelaine’, dated 1816, of similar inspiration, presented by King Louis XVIII to his niece, the duchesse d’Angoulême and exhibited at the Louvre’s New Year Exhibition, see that sold Sotheby’s, London, 20th June 2000, lot 85.

Cameo-style decoration was very popular with the Sèvres artists in the first quarter of the 19th century and although a difficult technique to achieve it became quite fashionable, its subtlety achieved through the building up of layers of enamel. For a similar déjeuner painted with cameo portraits, by Le Guay, on shapes created in 1812, see M-N Pinot de Villechon, Sèvres Porcelain from the Sèvres Museum 1740 to the Present Day, p.78, fig.81

Nicolas-Antoine Le Bel was a painter at the Sèvres factory 1804-45.

 We are grateful to Mme Tamara Préaud of the Sèvres Archives for her assistance with cataloguing this lot