Two national treasures for Sèvres

4/4/24 - Acquisition - Sèvres, Musée national de Céramique - A happy ending for two masterpieces: the milk jug with raised handle and the round sugar bowl (ill. 1 and 2), which had fortunately been classified as national treasures at the beginning of 2022, were beginning to give heritage lovers cold sweats, as time unfortunately does not always work in favour of ambitious acquisition projects. It is therefore with a joy not devoid of relief that we can finally announce their very imminent entry into the national collections, in this case those of the Musée national de Céramique in Sèvres, the natural recipient of such prestigious pieces. Everything has already been written about this service, which the Ministry of Culture itself describes as legendary. Art historian Selma Schwartz, honorary curator at Waddesdon Manor, devoted an article to it [https://www.thefrenchporcelainsociety. com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/The-Se%CC%80vres-Porcelain-Service-for-Marie-Antoinette%E2%80%99s-Dairy-at-Rambouillet-%E2%80%93-IX-pt2-1992. pdf] in 1992, followed by his thesis the following year, defended at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, before devoting himself to the "bowl-saucer" at the Met a new article in 2002 and returned to the entire service in Versalia in 2007. In 2016, Antoine Maës published a rich short monograph on the dairy of the Château de Rambouillet, followed by the exhibition "Vivre à l’antique" in the summer of 2021 (see the article) took us back to the context of the creation of the building and the porcelain service.

1. Manufacture royale de Sèvres, 1787
Service de la laiterie de Rambouillet
Pot à lait anse relevée et sucrier rond
Porcelaine dure
En cours d’acquisition pour Sèvres
Photo : Studio Sébert

See the image in its page

2. Manufacture royale de Sèvres, 1787
Service de la laiterie de Rambouillet
Pot à lait anse relevée et sucrier rond
Porcelaine dure
En cours d’acquisition pour Sèvres
Photo : Studio Sébert

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