A SEVRES BLEU CELESTE PLATE (ASSIETTE A PALMES)

This plate is possibly from the service purchased via the banker Sir John Francis Lambert, 3rd Baronet, by Francis Thomas Fitzmaurice, 4rd Earl of Kerry (Earl 1747-1818) on 1 April 1769. The earl married in 1768 and pursued a lifestyle of ostentation. In 1778 he acquired several additions to the service, however following financial difficulties he was forced to sell part of the service back to the Sèvres factory via the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre in 1789. It appears that the service was then acquired by Daguerre and was in Britain by the late 19th century. See David Peters, see Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century (Hertfordshire, 2005), Vol. II, pp. 403-405. Similar pieces are in the Royal Collection.