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Lot Essay
These tureens are possibly connected with the green-ground service acquired on 1 May 1763 by Henri-Léonard-Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1720-1792), with further supplements recorded in 1764 and 1765, a substantial part of which is being offered in the evening sale of the present Rothschild auction series. A notable number of pieces in this collection bear the date letter ‘S’ for 1771. The similarity between decorative patterns found on the porcelains produced in 1763 and those produced in 1771 suggest that the latter group may have completed Bertin’s service, although no archival document from the Sèvres factory has to date confirmed this hypothesis. David Peters has also proposed a connection between the porcelains dated 1771 and a purchase made by the merchant Simon-Philippe Poirier in the same year, suggesting that Poirier may have acted as an intermediary (see Peters, op. cit., p. 478).
Within a few years of starting his career as a lawyer in Bordeaux, Henri Léonard Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1720-1792) began his climb through the ranks of French bureaucracy. He eventually served as the Controleur général des Finances beginning in 1759, and in 1763, the year in which he acquired the present service, he ascended to the role of secrétaire d'État au Conseil. Notably, as administrateur et commisaire du Roi, he was responsible for the Sèvres manufactory for over a decade, from 1767-1778.
Within a few years of starting his career as a lawyer in Bordeaux, Henri Léonard Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1720-1792) began his climb through the ranks of French bureaucracy. He eventually served as the Controleur général des Finances beginning in 1759, and in 1763, the year in which he acquired the present service, he ascended to the role of secrétaire d'État au Conseil. Notably, as administrateur et commisaire du Roi, he was responsible for the Sèvres manufactory for over a decade, from 1767-1778.