Cooler for Wine Glasses (Prince de Rohan Service)

In the 18th century, the celebrated Sèvres porcelain manufacturer produced elaborate table services with sometimes hundreds of pieces. The striking bleu celeste (“heavenly blue”) pieces displayed here are part of a service meant for serving both dinner and desserts. Cheese, meat, soup, cakes, custards, ice creams—each was served in a cup, plate, or bowl designed specifically for that purpose. The 368-piece service (now dispersed among many collections) was commissioned by Cardinal Prince Louis de Rohan while he was French ambassador to the court in Vienna (1771–74). The plates feature Rohan’s monogram “LPR.”

The splendidly painted (if fancifully colored) exotic birds on the pieces were probably based on the prints in George Edward’s 1743 publication A Natural History of Birds.