Note:
A ‘déjeuner’ is the name given to a small tea or coffee set with a matching tray, the name for the overall set dictated by the shape name given the tray. In this case, it is a shaped serpentine rectangular tray or plateau ‘Courteille’ with rounded corners and angled side handles, named after the marquis de Courteille, the King’s representative in charge of the Vincennes/Sèvres manufactory, to whom the first example of this tray was presented in December 1753. Sales records show Déjeuner ‘Courteille’ produced from 1757 into the 1780s.

The selection of pieces making up the set can vary, as can the size and shape of the tray and of the individual pieces, the complement of pieces dictating the use for the déjeuner. The present déjeuner of a théière ‘Calabre’, 3ème grandeur, a pot à sucre ‘Bouret’, 2ème grandeur, and four gobelets ‘Litron’ et soucoupes, 3ème grandeur resting on a plateau ‘Courteille’ originally will have included a pot à lait à trois pieds, likely 2ème grandeur. The individual pieces comprising the set will have been completed at the same time by the same decorators, resulting in identical factory, painters and gilders marks on each piece, as is the case here. With four cups, it is the largest such service produced, although the cups themselves are likely the smallest.

Déjeuner ‘Courteille’ can be found in The Wallace Collection, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. Cf. Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection – Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, cat. no, C401-6, pp. 615-621; Linda H. Roth and Clare Le Corbeiller, French Eighteenth-Century Porcelain at the Wadsworth Atheneum – The J. Pierpont Morgan Collection, 2000, cat. no. 83, pp. 175-178.

Charles-Louis Méreaud le jeune (active 1756-1780) is recorded at Sèvres as a painter specializing in flowers and patterns. Michel-Barnabé Chavaux père (active 1752-1788) is recorded at Vincennes and at Sèvres as a gilder. Their work on the present déjeuner is typical of that found on tablewares of the late 1770s-1780s, showcasing their talent and expertise of their specialties honed over many years at the factory.