Seventy-five Sèvres pieces donated in lieu of taxes to Versailles

3/9/23 - Acquisition - Versailles, Musée national du château - Accustomed to proceeding in small steps, according to the opportunities offered by the art market and the goodwill of collectors, the teams at Versailles have learnt to be patient when it comes to rebuilding the porcelain collections that were once abundant at the château. Long accustomed to bare tables, over the years visitors have come to appreciate the salutary dynamism of an acquisition policy that was as overdue as it was pertinent, and which is frequently praised in La Tribune de l’Art (see this news item and this article). Announced at the beginning of the summer, the providential arrival of a set of seventy-five pieces (ill. 1) naturally came as a godsend, especially as it comes from one of the finest services produced by the Sèvres Royal Porcelain Manufactory at the end of the eighteenth century.

1. Overview of the seventy-five pieces from the pearl and barbel service donated to the Château de Versailles in spring 2023.
Photo: Christophe Fouin

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Connoisseurs will have immediately recognised their royal provenance: this is the mythical "pearl and barbel" service ordered by Marie-Antoinette in the summer of 1781. Probably destined for the Petit Trianon, the two hundred and ninety-five pieces of the service were delivered to the sovereign on 2 January 1782, during the annual exhibition held at Versailles. The exceptional country-style decoration chosen by the Queen is made up of bouquets and seeds of barbels (the old name for cornflowers) highlighted by two rows of pearls painted on a band with an olive-green background known as "goose shit". Simple yet refined, this decoration ideally suited Queen Marie-Antoinette’s taste.

2. Sèvres Royal Porcelain Manufactory
Three shell compotiers, 1781
Soft porcelain - 5.5 x 22.3 x 23 cm
Versailles, Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
Photo: Christophe Fouin

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