A Paris (Nast) tea and coffee service, circa 1810-15

painted with vignettes of figures in landscapes en grisaille reserved on a pale-yellow ground, the forms in Egyptian taste with wing-form handles and sphinx mask terminals in matt-green, comprising a coffee pot and cover, teapot and cover, milk jug, sugar bowl, waste bowl, and eight coffee cans and saucers, printed iron-red and gilded NAST/ à / Paris marks,

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's Amsterdam, European Collections, 21st February 2006, lot 446.

1 saucer with a restored rim chip and associated hairline crack and area of re-gilding at rim, another with a hairline crack to rim. Some wear go yellow-ground at wells from stacking. 2 coffee cans with a restored rim chip, and associated hairline crack and area of re-gilding at rim. The sugar bowl, probably lacking a cover, each matt green terminal at the sides with a minute chip to a hand. The waste bowl with two-part section of rim broken with old repair and re-gilding to rim, and extending crack to body, some over-painting to vignette on exterior. The milk jug with handle repaired and re-gilded. The teapot with flat chip to a wing of the handle, some wear to gilding on shoulder. The coffee pot, extensively broken and repaired, with excessive over-painting and re-gilding to the outer surface. The flange of the finial restored, and chipped, two chips to the face.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the early 19th century the porcelain factories of Paris and Sèvres followed the developing fashion for Egyptian revival which was partly the result of the French campaigns in Egypt between 1798-1801. In 1802 at the Sèvres manufactory Benoît Chanou developed a short-lived new material called pâte bronze [bronze paste], which is perhaps best seen in the inkwell model 'Ecritoire Egyptienne', see Marie-Nëlle Pinot de Villechenon, Sèvres Porcelain from the Sèvres Museum 1740 to the Present Day, London, 1997, p. 52, fig. 51. Models such as this inspired the Nast factory as well as Dagoty and other Paris factory where similar models were produced.