SÈVRES (MANUFACTURE IMPERIALE DE) Henri II" bowl and its lid In porcelain with polychrome decoration in the Renaissance style of masks standing out on a gold background, bordered by a frieze of leafy palmettes on a blue background, gold fillet on the rim Intaglio marks, green mark in a cartouche S.51 for 1851 and red decoration mark with crowned N and 58 for 1858 Height 24 cm (Restoration to the edge of the lid; minor wear) Provenance: perhaps one of the two cups produced in June 1858 (Archives nationales de Sèvres, Vv6, fol.45) and sold to M Biesta on 24 June 1858: "1 Coupe de Henri II fond bleu riche décor en or couleur, 400 (francs)" (Archives nationales de Sèvres, VZ, fol.160v°), or else delivered "à S.M. l'Empereur au Palais de St Cloud p(our) présent" in July 1860 (Archives nationales de Sèvres Vbb12, fol.30). Notes: This Mr Biesta is probably Hippolyte-Guillaume Biesta (1811-1870), director of the comptoir d'escompte in Paris and type foundryman under the name Biesta Laboulaye et Cie. He lived in Paris, and in 1857 bought the Château d'Aguesseau in Trouville-sur-Mer for 168,000 francs. For a model probably of slightly more elaborate form, with similar decoration but with a pink background, see the sale at Sotheby's, London, 22 November 2005, lot 43.