Sèvres – Rare plate from the Emperor’s Tuileries service

France, Sèvres Imperial Manufactory, circa 1806–1808
Diameter: 23.5 cm

A rare soft-paste porcelain plate from the imperial “Beau Bleu” service used by Emperor Napoleon I at the Tuileries Palace. Decorated with gilt floral garlands on a deep blue ground. Marked with incised and ink-enhanced interlaced “LL”, the Imperial Manufactory mark later ground off during the Restoration. Gilt painter’s mark “B” and impressed mark beneath.

Provenance:

From the “Beau Bleu” service used daily by Napoleon I at the Tuileries and later taken with him to Saint Helena.

The service was delivered in two stages (1806 and 1808) via General Bertrand.

Re-marked with interlaced “LL” during the Bourbon Restoration.

A plate from the same service, recorded as “brought back from Saint Helena,” is preserved at the Château de Malmaison.

The service was subsequently reused by Louis XVIII and later mentioned in 1848 under Napoleon III (48 plates remaining, worn from use).