Footed Tray from the Maria Theresa Service
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain, green ground, polychrome enamels, and gilding
Dimensions
3.2 × 23.1 cm (1 1/4 × 9 1/16 in.)
Classification
tableware
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
105798
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The French royal porcelain manufactory at Sèvres, outside Paris, drew nobility, royalty, and other wealthy patrons from across Europe with the rich colors and lavish gilding of its fashionable wares. This dish is part of a much larger dinner service commissioned from the factory. Unequivocal statements of luxury and sophistication, these services epitomize the prestige of French design in Europe during the 1700s.
About the Artist
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres · 1763–1800
The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, a premier French porcelain factory, flourished from 1763 to 1800 as the royal powerhouse of European ceramics, producing opulent soft- and hard-paste porcelain under the patronage of Louis XV and XVI. Originally founded in Vincennes in 1740 to rival Meissen and Chantilly, it relocated to Sèvres in 1756 and was fully acquired by the Crown in 1759, becoming the M...