Fourteen Sèvres plates from the 'Service de Dessert Marly Rouge' for the Emperor Napoleon, circa 1809

Footnotes

Provenance:
Delivered to the Emperor Napoleon at the Palais de Fontainebleau on 7th, 8th and 18th October 1809;
Listed among the property taken by the Emperor to Elba in April 1814;
Given in 1829 to Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (1805-1870) by his father, the Emperor's youngest brother, Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia between 1807-13, probably on the occasion of the former's wedding to Susan May Williams (1812-81) in 1829;
Thence given in 1875 to Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851-1921) and his wife Ellen Channing-Day (1852-1924) on the occasion of their wedding;
thence given to Ellen Bonaparte's godson, Robert Wood Williams, Sr. (1890-1984) and Helen Macqueen Gibbs Williams, probably on the occasion of their wedding in 1924;
Thence by descent to the present owner

Another set of 12 plates with butterflies with the same provenance was sold in these rooms, 5 July 2018, lot 223.

For a discussion of the dessert service "fond rouge, papillons et fleurs", commissioned for Compiègne but delivered in October 1809 to Fontainebleau, shortly before the Emperor's arrival there on 26th October for a stay of a little over two weeks, see Camille Le Prince, Napoléon Ier & la Manufacture de Sèvres (2016), p. 72, and p. 278 for the entry of 11 October 1809 in the Magasin de Vente, including the composition of the service, which had a total value of 18,580 francs. Other table and coffee services were delivered to Fontainebleau at the same time, including a service with beau bleu ground that was also originally intended for Compiègne (S. Wittwer, Raffinesse & Eleganz (2007), cat. no. 64). In the imperial hierarchy, Fontainebleau ranked second among the country estates, just after Saint Cloud, and required furnishings commensurate with its importance (Le Prince, p. 72).

In the archive transcription these plates with red borders and gilding but without butterflies are listed as '36 assiettes avec marly rouge pour assiettes montées'. There seems to be a group of services with 'asiettes montées' or 'pour monter', or 'assiettes avec bordure seule'. The first mention of these plates with decorated borders for use in mounting appears to be the 'Service à Guirlande de Fleurs sur Fond d'Or', entered in the magazin de vente 26 October 1808.