Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
The Richard Deacon Collection
Lot 115*
A pair of Sèvres bottle coolers (seaux à bouteille) from the service for the Comtesse d'Artois, circa 1789
2 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£10,000 - £15,000
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Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
Raphael Machiels
Associate Specialist
Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
A pair of Sèvres bottle coolers (seaux à bouteille) from the service for the Comtesse d'Artois, circa 1789
Decorated with blue-ground pearl border with gilt dentil bands, the rim reserved with a band of alternating roses and cornflowers against a maroon ground interspersed with similar large circular medallions enclosing pansies within gilt and beaded borders, all between bands of laurels leaves on gilt-edged maroon ground, gilt-edged rims, 18.8-19cm high, interlaced LL monogram in blue, painter's mark for de Laroche, gilder's mark Boileau (le jeune) to both (haircracks, traces of old staple repairs to base of one) (2)
Footnotes
Provenance:
Purchased by Marie-Thérèse de Savoie, comtesse d'Artois, on 27 June 1789;
In the possession of Sir Charles Mills and his son, 1st Lord Hillingdon, in the late 19th century;
Thence by descent to Phoebe, Lady Hillingdon;
Purchased from Adrian Sassoon, London, in 2005
This expensive service purchased by the comtesse d'Artois in June 1789 was meant for use by the comte and comtesse in their Versailles apartments, being described as pour Versailles [for Versailles] in the sale records. Due to the revolution however it is unlikely the service saw much use, as the couple fled the country only three weeks after delivery. See David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, vol. IV, rev. ed. 2015, no. 89-3, for a full listing and discussion of the service, which included eight bottle coolers.
Maria Theresa of Savoy was born in 1756 in Turin, the fifth child of Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia. She married the Count of Artois, the youngest grandson of King Louis XV of France and the later King Charles X of France. They had four children together, two of which survived childhood. After the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, they left Versailles for Savoy. In 1791 her husband left Turin and moved to Trier, where his uncle was Archbishop-Elect. The comtesse stayed behind and the couple lived separated for the rest of their lives. She died in 1805 in Graz, Austria.