Painted with a loose bouquet, the shaped dark blue border reserved with three sprays of similar flowers on a gilt caillouté ground
9¹⁄₂ in. (24.1 cm.) diameter

From a service presented as a gift from Louis XV to Christian VII, King of Denmark, on the occasion of Christian VII's visit to Paris from 21 October 1768 until 9 December 1768. A second tranche of this gift was delivered on 1 July 1769.
Acquired from Michele Beiny, Inc., New York, 10 December 2004.

D. Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, vol. II, Little Birkhamsted, 2005, no. 68-4 and 69-4.

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Lot Essay

In the late fall of 1768, Christian VII, King of Denmark and Norway, visited Paris under the incognito title of the prince of Travendahl. During his stay at the Hotel d'York, the nineteen year old king was given numerous gifts, including Savonnerie carpets, Gobelins tapestries and a large Sèvres dinner service from Louis XV, which included the present plate. The service seems to have been accepted by Christian VII at the conclusion of a three hour visit to the Sèvres manufactory on 9 November 1768. In July of the following year, further pieces from this service were delivered to the young king after his return to Denmark. As both tranches included 48 assiettes and the present plate is not dated, it is impossible to know to whether this plate belongs to the 1768 or 1769 group. See D. Peters, op. cit., nos. 68-4 and 69-4 for a further discussion.
Many pieces from this service still reside in the Danish Royal Collection and a number are on view in the porcelain cabinet at Rosenborg Palace, Copenhagen. For an illustration of another plate from this service still in the Danish Royal Collection, see P. Verlet, Sèvres, Le XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1953, pl. 63.