18th Century Sevres Cassolettes with Ormolu Mounts

• Pineapple - The pineapple, named because of its resemblance to a pine cone, was an exotic and scarce fruit in the 18th century. It became a popular decorative motif on furniture, silver ceramics, glass and clocks during this time.
• Cassolette - The origins of the cassolette date back to medieval times, where they were commonly used to serve stews and other hot dishes at banquets and other formal occasions. In the 18th century, cassolette dishes began to be made from porcelain and were often decorated with ornate designs, making them popular as decorative pieces as well as functional serving dishes.
  
  During the 19th century, cassolette dishes became popular in French cuisine, where they were used to prepare and serve dishes such as cassolette de fruits de mer, a seafood stew, and cassolette de gibier, a game stew.
• Ormolu - Ormolu was popular with French craftsmen in the 18th and 19th century for ornamental fittings for furniture, clocks and other decorative items. True ormolu is gilt bronze, that is bronze that has been coated with gold using a mercury amalgam. Due to the health risks associated with using mercury, this method of creating ormolu was discontinued in France in the 1830s. A substitute was developed consisting of about 75% copper and 25% zinc, however it was inferior to the bronze version. It was often lacquered to prevent it tarnishing.
• Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
  
  Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
• Bleu De Roi - Bleu de roi is a deep blue colour used in porcelain decoration, specifically in the decoration of French porcelain. It is similar to, but darker than the colour "Bleu Celeste" and it was first used by the Sèvres porcelain factory in the 18th century. The colour is created by adding cobalt oxide to the glaze. The name Bleu de Roi comes from the French for "King's Blue," and it was favored by King Louis XV of France.
  
  It was one of the colours used to decorate the most elaborate and luxurious pieces, and was used to create intricate designs and patterns, including flowers, landscapes, and figural scenes.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Sevres (France) and Sevres style, items - cassolettes 4