Lot Essay
This service was purchased by M. Verdier, a trade intermediary or banquier on 1 December 1791 and it was one of two large Sèvres services purchased by Verdier in the same year, see David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century, Little Berkhamsted, 2005, Vol. IV, pp. 939-940. The present service was known for incorporating a number of new shapes and styles, including the saucière 'nouvelle' based on an antique lamp, see the example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by Svend Eriksen and Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Sèvres Porcelain, Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1800, London, 1987, p. 353, no. 158.