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拍品专文
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.
A significant portion of this assembled dinner set can be traced back to the service acquired by Bertin on 1 May 1763 (see Peters, op. cit. vol. II, no. 63-3, pp. 357-359). Bertin was able to obtain these pieces at significantly reduced prices, likely due to his ministerial positions, and he obtained additional supplements in 1764 and 1765. Furthermore, 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, even though no archival document from the Sèvres factory confirms 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, ibid., p. 478).
The original Bertin service consisted of 72 plates, each priced at 28 livres instead of the customary 42 livres. In the current collection, there are 36 plates dated with the letter ‘K’ for 1763, which originate from this service. Additionally, there are five undated plates that may also be associated with it. The Bertin service initially included 36 ice-cups in the 1763 delivery. The present partial service comprises 40 ice-cups dated 1763 and two examples from 1764. In 1764, Bertin acquired two salad bowls of the first size and two of the second size. Within the present service, one of the first size and two of the second size are dated 1763, while a fourth of the first size is dated 1771. The two 1763 oval mustard-pot stands might be among the four mustard-pots in the 1763 Bertin service. It is also likely that two ice-pails, two butter-tubs, two cheese dishes, two sauce-boats, and one oval liqueur-bottle cooler in the present collection originate from the 1763-1764 Bertin service. Although the original complement of Bertin service did not include a monteith, Bertin received a gift of four "seaux crénelés" at 300 livres each at the end of 1763, making it likely that the two monteiths dated 1763 in the current service could be connected to this gift.
A significant portion of this assembled dinner set can be traced back to the service acquired by Bertin on 1 May 1763 (see Peters, op. cit. vol. II, no. 63-3, pp. 357-359). Bertin was able to obtain these pieces at significantly reduced prices, likely due to his ministerial positions, and he obtained additional supplements in 1764 and 1765. Furthermore, 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, even though no archival document from the Sèvres factory confirms 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, ibid., p. 478).
The original Bertin service consisted of 72 plates, each priced at 28 livres instead of the customary 42 livres. In the current collection, there are 36 plates dated with the letter ‘K’ for 1763, which originate from this service. Additionally, there are five undated plates that may also be associated with it. The Bertin service initially included 36 ice-cups in the 1763 delivery. The present partial service comprises 40 ice-cups dated 1763 and two examples from 1764. In 1764, Bertin acquired two salad bowls of the first size and two of the second size. Within the present service, one of the first size and two of the second size are dated 1763, while a fourth of the first size is dated 1771. The two 1763 oval mustard-pot stands might be among the four mustard-pots in the 1763 Bertin service. It is also likely that two ice-pails, two butter-tubs, two cheese dishes, two sauce-boats, and one oval liqueur-bottle cooler in the present collection originate from the 1763-1764 Bertin service. Although the original complement of Bertin service did not include a monteith, Bertin received a gift of four "seaux crénelés" at 300 livres each at the end of 1763, making it likely that the two monteiths dated 1763 in the current service could be connected to this gift.