ƒ OVAL PLATEAU NAMED 'PLATEAU À RUBANS', SÈVRES, LOUIS XVI PERIOD, DATED 1784, VERY PROBABLY GIFTED BY KING LOUIS XVI TO MARIE-LOUISE DE BOURBON-PARME, PRINCESS OF THE ASTURIES AND FUTURE QUEEN OF SPAIN, IN DECEMBER 1784 in porcelain, decorated in gold on a blue background in the centre with a bacchanal representing the drunkenness of Silenus carried by two men, surrounded by two bacchantes and a drunken love, a satyr perched in a tree, in a rectangular frame surrounded by a garland of foliage and fruit and four heads of rams, the rim decorated with four trophies on a frieze of rosettes, lozenges and fleurons in gold, the handles in the form of ribbons tied with gold polka dots. Marked in gold: LL interlaced and crowned, letter-date GG for 1784, mark of Pierre Nicolas Pithou l'aîné. (Slight wear to centre) AN OVAL PORCELAIN DISH NAMED 'PLATEAU A RUBANS', SEVRES, LOUIS XVI PERIOD, DATED 1784, MOST PROBABLY OFFERED BY KING LOUIS XVI TO MARIE-LOUISE DE BOURBON-PARME, PRINCESS OF ASTURIAS, FUTURE QUEEN OF SPAIN IN DECEMBER 1784 39,50 x 31,50 CM - 15,6 x 12,4 IN. Provenance Most probably presented by King Louis XVI to Marie-Louise de Bourbon Parme, Princess of Asturias and future Queen of Spain, in December 1784. Former Ortiz-Patino collection Château El Masr, Cologny, Geneva The sugar pot, teapot and milk jug that originally formed part of the cabaret with this tray are now in a private American collection, sold by Adrian Sassoon in 2012. The new decoration created in the early 1780s by the Manufacture de Sèvres, consisting of figures, profiles, trophies and foliage in the antique style in gold underlined by black lines and standing out against a blue or brown background imitating lacquer, is referred to by the Manufacture as Etruscan figures or bas-relief figures in gold. These Etruscan figures were first used on the pieces of the toilet given by Louis XVI in 1782 to Maria Feodorovna and Paul Petrovitch, known as the Toilette de la comtesse du Nord. It is still in the Pavlosk Palace. A bowl decorated with Etruscan figures on a blue background, dated 1784 and gilded by Nicolas Pierre Pithou the younger, is now in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was the subject of a study by Ghenete Zelleke published in 2007 in The French Porcelain Society Journal (Ghenete Zelleke, "Sèvres porcelain of the 1780's decorated in the Neoclassical Style with Etruscan figures in gold in the Art institute of Chicago's Collection", The French Porcelain Society Journal, vol. III, 2007, pp. 141-149). This bowl is decorated with an allegory of Justice and a figure of Hercules as a child. Bernard Dragesco, echoed by the author, suggested that the decoration of this bowl suggested that it had been made to celebrate the birth of a young prince. The birth on 18 October 1784 of Ferdinand, son of Charles, Prince of Asturias and Marie-Louise de Bourbon Parma, the future Queen of Spain and granddaughter of Louis XV and Philip V of Spain, was linked to the gift of Sèvres porcelain made by Louis XVI to the future Queen of Spain, his first cousin, at the end of 1784. These porcelains are listed in the sales register kept in the archives of the Sèvres manufactory, delivered to the Comte de Vergennes, Minister of Foreign Affairs, for a total price of 6,216 livres (Arch. MNS, Vy9, f° 181). This gift is also mentioned in the journal of the King's presents kept in the Foreign Affairs archives, which reads: "14 December 1784 To Madame la Princesse des Asturies, Vases, tableaux and other porcelain works by Sève... 6,216 livres" (Foreign Affairs archives, Memoirs and documents, France, volume 2095, f° 33v). These porcelains include a bowl costing 360 livres, the decoration of which is not specified. A cabaret valued at 960 livres, the decoration of which is not specified, was also part of this royal gift. Given the large quantity of gold on the tray and the three pieces in an American collection, the price of this lunch must have been in excess of 720 livres. By way of comparison, a single litron goblet decorated with Etruscan figures on a blue background was sold for 144 livres to the Duc de Cossé in April 1783. Only four luncheons costing more than 720 livres were sold by the manufactory in 1784 and 1785. Three were delivered on 17 March 1784 to Mr Grenier, comptroller to the Count, Ambassador to London for the Prince of Wales, one at 840 livres and two at 720 livres. The fourth is the lunch delivered to the Comte de Vernes for the Court of Madrid in December 1784 at 960 livres. The link between the decoration on the Chicago bowl and our tray suggests that it was part of Louis XVI's gift to the future Queen of Spain.