Peter Rees
Director, Head of Sales
Lot 8
A very rare Sèvres plate from the service for Napoleon's mother, Laetitia Bonaparte (Madame Mère), circa 1802
27 October 2021, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,080 inc. premium
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A very rare Sèvres plate from the service for Napoleon's mother, Laetitia Bonaparte (Madame Mère), circa 1802
Painted by Pierre Massy (1779-1802) with an underglaze-blue cavetto and laurel wreaths surrounding a central gilt starburst, a wide band of loosely bound flowers including roses scrolling below the blue rim picked out with bands of single flower heads alternated with stylised leaves, 24.7cm diam., 'Sèvres' in blue script and M for the painter Pierre Massy (minor rubbing)
Footnotes
The service consisted of 70 pieces, including 48 plates, at a total cost of 3000 francs. See Camille Leprince, Napoléon Ier & la Manufacture de Sèvres (2016), no. 17.
The painter Pierre Massy (1779-1802) is listed in David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century (2005, revised edition of 2015), vol. I, p. 60, where the author notes that Massy was mainly active as a painter of flowers and birds.
