A Sèvres blue-ground écuelle, stand and cover (écuelle nouvelle forme et plateau), circa 1775

Of the first size, painted by Jacques Fontaine, the beau bleu ground reserved with curved oval cartouches enclosing children engaged at various pursuits in pastoral landscapes, wide gilt bands with foliate scrollwork to the rims, applied with gilt scrolling foliate handles, the cover with a flower bud finial, the stand: 26cm across handles; the ecuelle and cover: 18.5cm across handles and 13.2cm high, interlaced LL monograms in blue, painter's marks for Fontaine and gilder's mark for Boulanger, incised marks (3)

Provenance:
Sir Walter Rockcliffe Farquhar, 3rd Bart (1810-1902), Polesden Lacey;
Thence by descent to the current owner

Exhibited:
Bethnal Green Museum, from 1929

This écuelle was exhibited from 1929 at the Bethnal Green Museum, which had been founded in 1872 as a branch museum of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Among many other disparate collections, much of Sir Richard Wallace's collection was displayed at the museum between 1872 and 1875 while Hertford House was being converted to receive it.