A Sèvres Porcelain Footed Tray (Soucoupe à pied) from the Marquis de Dufort's Ambassadorial Service, circa 1766

From the service delivered to Aimeric-Joseph (1716-1787), marquis de Durfort-Civrac, French Ambassador to Vienna in 1766;

Private Collection, Austria to 2015;

Adrian Sassoon, London;

From whom acquired by the present collector on 26 August, 2021.

The service that the present tray belongs to was acquired by Emeric-Joseph, marquis de Durfort-Civrac, at the end of 1766, while he was ambassador of France to Austria (April 1766 to May 1770). A career diplomat, he was also French Ambassador to Venice from 1755 to 1760 and to the Two Sicilies (Naples and Sicily) in 1760 and again from 1762 to 1765. The marquis de Durfort became duc de Civrac on 24 November 1774 and was chevalier d’honneur for Madame Victoire, daughter of Louis XV. The delivery of the service to the marquis is recorded in the Sales Registers in December 1766 and included sixty plates, fourteen compotiers, and four soucoupes à pied, among other pieces of form. There were four trays of this size in the service costing 72 livres each.

For a full listing of the pieces in the delivery and further discussion of the service see David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, vol II, 2005, revised edition 2026, pp. 381-82, no. 66-5. where the author notes that a group of pieces with this decoration, and probably from the Durfort service, were sold at Dorotheum, Vienna, 22 April 2015, lots 968 and 969, described as delivered to the marquis de Durfort and with provenance to an Austrian collection owned by descendants of the marquis. Four pieces from this service, comprising two plates (assiettes unies), a footed stand (soucoupe à pied) and a fruit dish (compotier rond) were sold at Sotheby's Paris, 26 June 2024, lot 54.