VINCENNES, Manufacture du Duc de Chartres. Pair of hard porcelain cheesemakers on five feet, on the face the openwork Orléans coat of arms enhanced with a gold fillet. Handle decorated with a fillet of gold foliage. Double gold fillet on the rim. One is preserved in its original square box, in wood covered with green leather, with a gold fleur-de-lys in relief in the four corners of the lid. The inside of the lid bears a glued label "pour monseigneur le Duc d'Orleans". 18th century, circa 1780. Porcelain : Height 4.5 cm; Width: 11.2 cm. Box: Height 9 cm; Sides: 14.5 cm. Bibliography: - Orléans, la Manufacture de faïence de terre blanche purifiée et de porcelaine, 1753-1782, C. Froissart, p. 50, fig. 11. - Faïence et porcelaine de Paris, 1995, Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, p. 182-183. The Manufacture de Vincennes counted the Orléans among its customers, in addition to benefiting from the protection of the Duc de Chartres (1747-1793). The label on the inside of the lid refers to Louis-Philippe d'Orléans (1747-1793), Duc de Chartres, then Duc d'Orléans, known as Philippe d'Orléans then Philippe Égalité. Prince of the French bloodline, he was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud on 13 April 1747 and died on the guillotine in Paris on 6 November 1793. He was the great-grandson of the Regent Philippe d'Orléans (1674-1723) and father of the French King Louis-Philippe I (1773-1850). A supporter of new ideas and a great admirer of British institutions, he was Grand Master of the first Grand Lodge of France, and on more than one occasion before the Revolution expressed his hostility to the regime. He offered the Palais-Royal, the "anti-Versailles", a centre and rallying point for the court's enemies. As a deputy during the Revolution, he voted for the death of his cousin, King Louis XVI. In 1774, Hector Hyacinthe Seguin (treasurer to the Duc de Chartres) became the owner of the Manufacture de Vincennes, a position he held until 1788. On 10 February 1777, he registered the mark of a lambel, a piece of furniture on which the d'Orléans broke the arms of France. When the manufactory was bought out, Séguin registered his mark, a lambel en plein, with the Lieutenant General of Police. A link seems to have existed between Louis-Philippe d'Orléans and Séguin; in the catalogue of French porcelain held by the British Museum, published in 1993, Aileen Dawson states that Séguin was treasurer to the Duc de Chartres. In a note dated 20 August 1776, Collet, controller of the buildings at Vincennes, informs us that Séguin was transferring his shop, which had previously been located in the buildings of the King's stable, to make way for the Duc de Chartes. Finally, a letter from Séguin, sent on 8 April 1779 to the Comte d'Angivillers, indicates that he is currently in charge of three complete services, including one for Monseigneur le Duc de Chartres. A study of some of the pieces marked with the full lambel reveals that the Orléans family were customers of the factory that produced them. The Cité de la Céramique conserves a cheesemaker decorated with the Orleans coat of arms - traditionally azure with three fleurs-de-lys, a silver label in chief, pierced and marked with a blue label (inv. 1547). Another fromager, unmarked, was sold at Sotheby's, Hector Binney Collection, London on 5 December 1989, number 66. Three other unmarked cheese makers with the same decoration but different sizes are known. Ours may be considered to be one of the three in private collections. Expert : Manuela Finaz de Villaine