Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
The Richard Deacon Collection
Lot 66*
A Sèvres bleu-lapis ground plate probably from the service given to the Duchess of Bedford, dated 1763
2 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £5,000
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Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
Raphael Machiels
Associate Specialist
Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
A Sèvres bleu-lapis ground plate probably from the service given to the Duchess of Bedford, dated 1763
Painted by Pierre-Nicolas Pithou (l'aîné) with flowers and peaches, the blue ground on the rim heightened with vermiculé gilding and reserved with three gilt-edged panels with further flowers, 24.2cm diam., interlaced LL monogram enclosing date letter K, painter's mark PT for Pithou, incised "6u"
Footnotes
Provenance:
Likely from the service delivered to César-Gabriel, duc de Choiseul-Praslin, as intermediary in the gift of the service to Gertrude, Duchess of Bedford, on 1 June 1763
For a full listing of the service, see David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services, 2005, revised edition 2015, vol. II, pp. 351-f, no. 63-1. The service, made up of pieces with date letters H, I, J and K, included 72 plates at a cost of 42 livres each. The majority of the service still remains at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. However, a small number of pieces are no longer in the possession of the Dukes of Bedford, including two assiettes à godrons. Peters mentions a plate from the service dated 1763 and painted with peaches and a rose, same as the present lot, as having been sold at Holloway's, Croughton Lodge, on 23 October 1984, which may have been one of two plates of the same description sold at Christie's London, 22 November 1965, lot 25 (part).