A dozen plates (two shown) from the famous ‘Marly Rouge’ dessert service made at the Sèvres porcelain factory for the Emperor Napoleon in 1809, and delivered to the Château of Fontainebleau, will feature in a sale of European ceramics at Bonhams New Bond Street on July 5.
The group is estimated at £70,000-90,000.
The hand-painted plates, in red and gold with a central butterfly, were among the 180 plates that made up the major part of the more than 250-piece service.
Originally destined for Compiègne, they were delivered to Fontainebleau in October 1809, shortly before Napoleon arrived there to rest after the peace negotiations in Vienna with Austria and its allies that resulted in the Treaty of Schönbrunn.
Additional elements of the service, including tureens and a wine cooler, sold for £1.5m (€1.14m) as part of the Rockefeller sale in New York in May.
Bonhams has sold five plates from the Marly Rouge Service in past auctions, one of which was acquired by the Château of Fontainebleau.
