A rare Sèvres hard-paste dish (compotier carré) from the 'service des Astories' for Maria Luisa of Parma, later Queen of Spain, circa 1775
Painted by André-Vincent Vielliard (père), with the monogram CL made up of gilt scrolls and foliate roses, the border with four figural landscapes within tooled gilt cartouches surrounded by gilt foliate garlands alternating with four circular gilt panels enclosing a crenelated tower emblematic of Castille against a gilt trellis pattern, all with entwined rose garlands, 22.2cm wide, crowned interlaced LL monogram, painter's mark for Vielliard (père), indistinguishable painter's mark and gilder's mark for Vincent (le jeune), incised marks (some retouching to gilding)
Footnotes:
Provenance:
Ordered by Louis XV, King of France, and given to his granddaughter, the Princesse des Asturies, Maria Luisa of Parma, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808;
Anon. sale, Christie's New York, 27 October 1988, lot 247;
Acquired in the above sale

The Service
The service was ordered by Louis XV in 1774, but was only completed after his death and ended up being delivered on behalf of Louis XVI by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The royal gift was listed in the Journal des Présents du Roi with a total value of 22,105 livres, and included various compotiers including four compotiers carrées. Maria Luisa must have been very happy with the service, as several supplements were made, first at Sèvres and subsequently also in soft-paste at Buen Retiro (a Buen Retiro example was sold in these rooms, 12 November 2003, lot 156). See David Peters, Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century (2005, revised edition 2015), III, pp. 533-536, cat. no. 75-1, for a full discussion of the service.
The service has sometimes been described as the first hard-paste service, but David Peters has noted Madame du Barry already purchased a hard-paste service in 1773 (Peters, ibid., no. 73-9).

An in-depth discussion of the service, its history and supplements can be found in Dorothee Guillemé Brulon, Porcelaine de Sèvres - Le Service de la Princesse des Asturies (2003).

Surviving pieces can be found in the Real Casa, the Museo Arqueológico, the Escorial, all near Madrid, the Museu de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée national de Céramique, Sèvres, the National Museum, Stockhold, and the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. A dish from the service was sold at Christie's New York, 19 May 2004, lot 82, and an ice cup at Christie's Paris,
19 March 2010, lot 164.

Maria Luisa of Parma
Maria Luisa of Parma (1751 - 1819) was the youngest daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma, the fourth son of Philip V of Spain, and of Louise Élisabeth of France, eldest daughter to King Louis XV. She married Charles, Prince of Asturias, who would later become King Charles IV of Spain. After the Bourbon dynasty was deposed in Spain by Napoleon I, she and her husband first lived as state prisoners in France and later lived under the protection of the Pope in the Barberini Palace in Rome, where they settled permanently in 1815. Maria Luisa died in 1819, the same year as her husband.