
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
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Sold for £1,152 inc. premium
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The birds on this service were copied directly from François-Nicolas Martinet's illustrations for Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon's ornithological publication, Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, published in ten volumes between 1770-1786. These illustrations were frequently used at Sèvres as sources for decoration.
This plate and the subsequent lot in this sale are related to three amalgamated services produced first in 1791 (see: D.Peters (2015), 92-2,) The maroon frieze was generally described at the factory as 'Etruscan' and the pattern appeared in production several times, two additional times as services, and several times as loose service wares. The last addition appears to have been a large service purchased by François Speelman (likely Franciscus Norbertus Speelman (1748-1817), a cotton merchant) in 1795.