The Service of the Electress of Bavaria and the Palatinate: Two large and four smaller Louis XV silver dishes and covers, Jacques-Henri Alberti and Jean-Louis III Imlin, Strasbourg, 1767-69

in three sizes, the shaped circular dishes with laurel rims with acanthus tips at the angles, small cartouches at intervals, matching shaped cloches with cabbage and artichoke finials, all engraved with contemporary entwined cypher AE in laurel wreath topped by a crown

Elizabeth Auguste, Electress of Bavaria and the Palatinate (d. 1794), to her niece
Marie Anna (née von Birkenfekt Zweibruken, 1753-1824), Duchess in Bavaria, to her son
Pius Augustus, Duke in Bavaria (1808-1888), to his son
Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria (1839-1909), to his daughter
Marie-Gabriele, Crown Princess of Bavaria (1878-1912), to her husband
Crown Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria (1869-1955), sold after the First World War to
Jacques Helft, Paris
Mrs. Antenor Patiño
Sotheby's New York, The Collection of Mrs. Antenor Patiño, November 1, 1997, lot 128 (the provenance incorrectly identified)

Paris: Grand Palais, 1932
Three French Reigns, London, 25 Park Lane, 1933
Exhibition of French Silver, New York: Arnold Seligman Rey & Co, Inc., 1934, no. 678, pl. XXI
Orfèvrerie Civile de Province, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 1936
San Francisco, 1937
Trésors de l'Art Français: Exposition International, Paris, 1937

M. Etienne Martin, Deux Siècles d'orfévrerie à Strasbourg, Strasbourg: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 2004, pp. 28-29 (the Electress' service)

several scratches and dings from use, one large cloche with a dent to the right of the monogram, otherwise good condition, impressive group and rare survival
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The monogram is that of Elisabeth Auguste (1721-94), Electress of Bavaria and of the Palatinate.

These dishes and covers come from the service which came to be known as "le service du Grand Electeur de Bavière," the bulk of which was sold from the collection of George Ortiz, Sotheby's New York, October 18, 2001, and is now in the Kurpfälzisches Museum, Heidelberg.

The original owner of the service, Elisabeth Auguste, was born in Mannheim on January 17, 1721, the daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Karl Emmanuel of Pfalz-Sulzbach and his wife Elisabeth Auguste Sophie von Pfalz-Neuberg, daughter of the reigning Elector of the Palatinate, Carl Philipp (1661-1742, Elector from 1716). The Elector arranged for his granddaughter to marry her cousin Carl Theodor (1724-1799), heir to the Electorate.

The wedding took place on Elisabeth Auguste's 21st birthday, 17 January 1742. Later that same year her grandfather died and the couple became rulers of the Palatinate. They were an ill-matched pair: Carl Theodor was serious, intellectual, and hard-working, while his wife was exuberant, poorly educated, and known for her lifestyle and her lovers (supposedly including both of her brothers-in-law). Her interference in government caused a rift in the court at Mannheim, which widened as she failed to produce an heir.

In 1768 the Elector purchased the château of Oggersheim and presented it to his estranged wife. Her late brother-in-law had constructed a new building in the 1750s, and the Electress soon made it her primary residence. She spent winters with her husband at Mannheim, even after succeeding as Electress of Bavaria, but otherwise remained at Oggersheim with her lover, Carl Ludwig Freiherr von Rodenhausen.

About the same time as the acquisition of Oggersheim the Electress commissioned silver from Strasbourg and porcelain from Frankenthal, decorated only with her own monogram. Even after her separation she maintained a lavish court, with 82 people in her personal household and a total household of over 2000. This staff included a tafeldecker responsible for laying the table, with several assistants and three women to clean the silver (Stefan Morz, Die Letzte Kurfürsten, Kohlhammer, 1997, p.138).

Several Strasbourg silversmiths contributed to the new service. Jean-Louis III Imlin supplied several of the major pieces, including both pots a oille, a pair of wine coolers, and various dishes and plates; this would be his final work, as he died 8 December 1768. Jacques-Henri Alberti was responsible for most of the balance of the items. The completed service was listed in a 1769 inventory of Oggersheim:
Service de table tout neuf, marque du Chiffre de notre Sérénissime Souveraine.

In 1794 the Electress fled Oggersheim before the invading French Revolutionary troops, who sacked and burned the château. She died later that summer, leaving the service to her niece, Princess Marie-Anne des Deux-Ponts. It remained in the hands of her descendants until sold after World War I to the Parisian dealer Jacques Helft.

Helft loaned it to several exhibitions in the 1930s before selling the bulk of the service to Graziella Patiño de Ortiz Linares in 1939.  This was sold by her son George Ortiz at Sotheby's New York, October 18, 2001, lot 111, pp. 10-21, and is now in the Kurpfälzisches Museum, Heidelberg; the 2001 catalogue has a more extensive note on the service and the Electress.  The offered lot was owned before 1997 by Beatriz Patiño, wife of Graziella's brother Antenor; her 2010 sale at Sotheby's Paris included an oval dish and cover, a rectangular dish and cover, and two tazze from the service.