The most costly and sumptuous service ever created at Sèvres in the eighteenth century was commissioned by Louis XVI in 1783 for his personal use at Versailles. It was intended to take twenty-three years to complete and was the swansong of the great services produced in soft-paste porcelain at Sèvres. Only half the service had been delivered when production was brought to a halt following the execution of the King in 1793.

Painted with a bleu nouveau ground and reserves with scenes taken from mythology and Greek and Roman history, the service was largely conceived as a showpiece and was not intended for general use. When completed, it was to include sixty plates (thirty delivered) without painted decoration; these were clearly intended for use. Special purchases of engravings were made by the manufactory for the artists to copy. These included a complete series of illustrations from the Paris editions of Ovid’s Métamorphoses and Fénelon’s Les Aventures de Télémaque (1773).

Each plate cost an unprecedented 480 livres, compared with 36 livres for the Manchester service. The most costly element was the painting of the scenes. For example, it was estimated that the painting of the four reserves on one large tureen tray would require one artist to work 8–10 hours per day for 12–15 months, costing 1,200 livres.