CIRCA 1768-69, BLUE INTERLACED L'S MARK

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.