Sunday, January 6, 2019

Museum Sunday: A plate from the perles et barbeaux service

Introducing Museum Sunday: a day for highlighting objects, books, and other items from the collections and lives of Marie Antoinette and her contemporaries.


This plate was created for the most recognizable and popular of all the Marie Antoinette Sèvres services: the perles et barbeaux ("pearls and cornflowers") service, which was commissioned from Sèvres in 1781 and exhibited at Versailles on January 2nd, 1782. The art design is believed to have been done by Michel-Gabriel Commelin. It is generally believed that the service was used for the Petit Trianon due to the simplistic design.


Unlike a few other Sèvres designs created for Marie Antoinette, the official Sèvres factory perles et barbeaux service was reserved exclusively for Marie Antoinette. However, its design was such an immense success that it was copied by other factories throughout Europe.

The service consisted of 295 pieces, including 96 plates worth 30 livres each. As of today, the service is scattered around the world in both museums and private collections.

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