Sèvres Porcelain
H.7 3/8 W.10 Dia.8 1/4in
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Literature
This pair of large wine decanter coolers (seaux à bouteilles) in soft-paste porcelain are the only pair that were in a dinner service given by King Louis XVI of France to Prince Henry of Prussia when he visited Versailles in October 1784. They cost 192 livres each when sold from the factory. Prince Henry was the brother of King Frederick the Great of Prussia and he was presented with very lavish presents on this visit.
This service was sold after his death in 1802 and is widely dispersed with many pieces in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as well as in the State Hermitage Collection, St. Petersburg and some in the British Royal Collection.
A pair of sorbet coolers and 22 plates from this service were sold from the collections of Barons Alphonse, Édouard and Guy de Rothschild collection latterly at the Hôtel Lambert, Paris, by Christie's, New York, 13th October 2023, lot 404.