The Wallace Collection

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Ecritoire 'à globes'
  • Inkstand
  • Ecritoire 'à globes'
  • Manufacture de Sèvres
  • Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis, the Elder (1695 - 1774), Designer
    Possibly Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734 - 1803), Painter, (cherubs)
  • Sèvres, France
  • 1758 - 1759
  • Soft-paste porcelain painted and gilded and silver-gilt mounts
  • Object size: 17 x 38 x 27.1 cm
  • Factory mark: Interlaced Ls and 'F', probably the date letter for 1758 - 1759
  • C488
  • Back State Room
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  • Designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis the Elder, this is perhaps the most important object in Sèvres porcelain in the Wallace Collection. Only two other examples of this design are recorded, but this one has particular prestige because it was given by Louis XV to his favourite daughter, Madame Adélaïde. Two medallions reveal this: one in centre of the tray shows the grisaille head of Louis XV and at one end is the gilded monogram MA (for Marie-Adélaïde). The terrestrial globe on the right contained an inkwell, and the celestial globe on the left (with the signs of the zodiac and piercings for stars) contained a globular, silver-gilt sand shaker. Inside the cushion was a sponge for Madame Adélaïde to wipe her pen, and inside the crown of France, resting on the cushion, was a bell for her to ring when she wanted her maid to collect the letter she had written.