Sèvres

Portrait of monarch impresses as château of the Comtes de Marcellus delivers treasures to auction

A group of nine Empire period Sèvres porcelain plates were the object of keen interest when they came up for sale at Lockdales in Ipswich on August 31.

The Parcours de la Céramique et des Arts du Feu is an annual gallery-based event in Paris focusing on a broad range of ceramics and glass, both antique and modern, from Europe and Asia

This 18th century Sèvres soft-paste porcelain ice pail (seau à glace) carries the date letter 'O' for 1767 and a tiny painter’s mark of an anchor for Charles Buteux Sr (1719-82).

Auctions held in Australia and Germany rack up strong prices for major European makers

There was plenty of choice for ceramics collectors at the Krehbiel collection sale.

The Adam Partridge (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Macclesfield on March 2 included a tazza from an important historical Sèvres service.

Anthony du Boulay (1929-2022) was well known as an expert on Chinese ceramics, although his interests were more wide ranging.

The Nicolier family were long-established antiques dealers who were based on the Quai Voltaire on the Parisian left bank for many decades.

Only two examples of this 11in (28cm) Sèvres biscuit porcelain bust of Napoleon’s son, Napoléon-François-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte (1811-32), are known.

A remarkable Sèvres part tea service made to mark the recovery of George III from illness in 1789 was among the unheralded highlights of this year’s London sales season.

Plates from a documented mid-19th century Sèvres dessert set sold for £36,000 at Golding Young & Mawer in Grantham on April 6.

While the kilns at Sèvres languished during the Revolution, Napoleon recognised the value of a national porcelain factory and used it as an extension of his power.

Dessert plate taken to St Helena exile by Napoleon demonstrates provenance value

Estimated at £200-300 in the belief they were later copies, a pair of Sèvres dishes sold for £9500 at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium).

This 15in (37cm) Sèvres porcelain presentation tazza or ‘Coupe Cybele’ was made for the Paris Exposition 1878.

Range of Sèvres highlights from ancien regime to the empire periods sold in UK auctions

Woman excluded from the guild of artists was nevertheless highly rated by kings and emperor

A Sèvres cabaret service painted with portraits of famous women was a New Year’s gift from a French empress