A WEDGWOOD CREAMWARE PART DINNER SERVICE 1870-75

designed and outside-decorated by Pierre Mallet and Léonce Goutard, each piece boldly painted with a bird, fish, shellfish, flower and insect or vegetable subject, comprising: two oval vegetable dishes and covers, a 14 1/4-inch platter, a 12 1/4 -inch platter, a 10 1/4-inch platter, an oval salad bowl, thirteen dinner plates, seven soup plates and three side plates, impressed WEDGWOOD, date letters for 1870 and 1872 and indistinct date letters, most signed Leonce & Mallet in black enamel, one soup plate printed in black with retailer's mark ROYAL DANISH GALLERIES / DESIGNED AND PAINTED LEONCE GOUTARD PIERRE MALLETT / A. BORGEN 142 NEW BOND STREET / TRADEMARK. 31 pieces.

One side plate has a 1-in. haircrack to the rim; otherwise all in generally good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Established under the patronage of Her Royal Highness, Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, as part of the showrooms of Messrs. A. Borgen & Co., 142 New Bond Street, London, during the early part of the 1870s, The Royal Danish Galleries was primarily devoted to the exhibition of the arts of Denmark, which included paintings, jewellery, porcelain and terra-cotta. By 1873, Messrs. Borgen & Co. had introduced another new showroom of French and Belgian Works of Art, for which the French artists, Pierre Mallet and Léonce Goutard, were exclusively retained to decorate porcelain plaques and vases.  In addition to these, Mallet and Goutard also designed and painted the distinctive decoration of a variety of tablewares employing creamware blanks from the Wedgwood manufactory, such as the pieces comprising the present lot. This lot is accompanied by a letter dated October 26th, 1874, from Balmoral Castle to Messrs. Borgen & Co., ordering a second service similar to one that had already been ordered on behalf of "Her Majesty". The letter concludes with a request that the services be ready by Christmas, presumably as both were intended as gifts.
Eight plates and four soup plates, similarly decorated, are illustrated by Maureen Batkin, Wedgwood Ceramics 1846-1959, p. 93 , pl. 197.