An important Sèvres Royal Presentation part tea and coffee service commemorating King George III's recovery from illness, circa 1789An important Sèvres Royal Presentation part tea and coffee service commemorating King George III's recovery from illness, circa 1789Of hard and soft-paste porcelain, each piece decorated with a different motto and/or crowned 'G' flanked by crossed laurels in gold, the rims decorated with a band of stylised flowers composed of a single gold pastille on a pink stem flanked by green dots inspired by fabric designs, the band of flowers enclosed by a double band of stylised neoclassical motifs in puce, blue and picked out in gilding, the handles embellished in gilding, the finials gilt, comprising:a large teapot and cover,a large sugar bowl and cover,a large cold milk jug on three feet,five gobelet litron and saucers,four teacups and five saucers, the teapot and cover: 16.5cm high, interlaced LL monogram and painter's mark attributed to members of the Weydinger family in gold (on the teapot and the milk jug) and blue, various incised marks (24)Provenance:Commissioned by Bernardo y Pérez de la Serna, Marquis del Campo, Spanish Ambassador to the Court of St James, in 1789;Queen Charlotte (1744-1818) [according to tradition - thence to]Mary, Duchess of Gloucester (1776-1857);Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904), the grandson of George III; thence to his sonSir Adolphus FitzGeorge (1846-1922); thence to his great-nephewGeneral Sir Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour (1913-1994);Thence by descentLiterature:Geoffrey de Bellaigue, 'Huzza the King is Well!', in Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXXVI (June 1984), pp. 325-331;Geoffrey de Bellaigue, French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (2009), vol. II, cat.no. 175, and vol. III, cat. no. 259 This remarkable tea service was part of a larger service, including a dessert service, now mostly in the Royal Collection that was commissioned by the Spanish Ambassador, the Marquis del Campo, for a gala held in name of the King of Spain on 9th June 1789 to celebrate the recovery of King George III from illness. Queen Charlotte, accompanied by her daughters, was the guest of honour at the gala in the Rotunda of the Ranelagh Gardens, Chelsea. Two thousand invitations were issued and the entertainment included dancing by Spanish children, a lottery, moving transparencies and a fireworks display. A supper was dramatically served in boxes that were simultaneously unveiled at one o'clock to reveal the richly-decorated tent-like interiors. The Queen's tent contained a table laid with gold plate as well as the Sèvres porcelain service; it was hung at the back with pea-green satin and with festoon curtains of white lute-string with gold fringing to complement the colours of the service.Differing accounts exist of how the Spanish ambassador disposed of the service after the gala. Elizabeth, Countess of Harcourt attended the gala and recorded in her memoirs that a major part of the service was presented by the Marquis del Campo to her and her husband in February 1796, following his appointment as Ambassador to the French Republic. She noted of the gala: It was very magnificent, and took place at Ranelagh on June the 9th 1789. The Queen was received there in great state. A beautiful service of China with appropriate medallions and mottoes was manufactured by the Royal Sevres Porcelain Works.[...] (Edward William Harcourt (ed.), the Harcourt Papers privately printed by James Parker & Co, Oxford, c.1900, vol. VI, part 1 p.267-268). Another account quoted by Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue suggests that the tea and coffee service was presented to the Queen the day after the gala, although it could have been given directly to her daughter, Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, who was present. Another possibility is that Lord and Lady Harcourt, who were presented with the dessert service by del Campo when he left London in 1796, may also have received the tea and coffee service and subsequently given it to Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, to whom they were close (de Bellaigue 2009, vol. III, p. 920). The bulk of the dessert service remained in the possession of the Harcourt family until 2003 when it was purchased by The Queen. Following the death of the Duke of Cambridge in 1904, the tea and coffee service was divided between his two sons; the present lot passed to Sir Adolphus FitzGeorge and his descendants, while the second portion went to his brother, Sir Augustus FitzGeorge, and, following his death in 1934, was purchased by Queen Mary (see below). Other than a few items from the dessert service retained by the Harcourt family, all other recorded pieces from the service are now in the Royal Collection (see above Literature).According to David Peters and Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue, the service closely corresponds precisely with one purchased by the marchand-mercier, Dominique Daguerre, listed in the sales' ledger between 17 April and 12 August 1789. The components of the tea and coffee service include: '24 Tasses, 2 Pots à Sucre, , 2 Pots à lait, 1 Theyere, 1 Jatte a Lait' (two teacups, one gobelet litron and two saucers are now missing). The part of the service purchased by Queen Mary in 1934 and now in the Royal Collection includes: a sugar bowl and cover, a milk jug, a basin, six teacups and saucers and six coffee cups and saucers (De Bellaigue 2009, vol. III, no. 259).It seems certain that Daguerre acted as the Spanish ambassador's intermediary and the mix of hard and soft-paste porcelain and the use (for the dessert service) of existing stock together with specially decorated or inscribed pieces suggests that the commission had to be fulfilled in some haste. Customs records indicate that the service arrived in Dover on 9 May 1789.The following mottoes are inscribed on the pieces:The teapot:'The Best of Husbands', 'the Patron of Arts'The sugar bowl:'Vive Le Roy'The milk jug:'God Save the King'The teacup saucers:'God Save the King', 'the Patron of the Arts', 'Glory to the King', 'The Boast of Good Men', 'The Best of Husbands'The gobelets litron:'God Save the King', 'Glory to the King' (twice), 'the Patron of Arts', 'The Best of Husbands', and the saucers each with a caduceus and oak branch and a banner reading 'Salus Regis Salus Populi'