A VINCENNES BLEU LAPIS-GROUND ECUELLE AND A COVER (ECUELLE 'RONDE TOURNEE' ET COUVERCLE, 2EME GRANDEUR)

Covered bowls (écuelles) and stands (plateaux) were not intended to be used at the dining table, but rather in the bedroom or boudoir where they were used to serve soups or broths during the lengthy toilette. The two handles suggest soup could be drunk from the bowl which was kept warm by the cover during powdering and dressing. The stand which usually accompanied these bowls would have carried bread. See Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, Vol. II, pp. 642-643 for an introduction to the form and its use in courtly life.

The écuelle 'rond' appeared in the stock lists in four sizes in 1752 and the title écuelle 'rond tournée' appears in the sales records for 1753 and 1754. It remained in production for the rest of the century with the second and third sizes being made in greater numbers.