The Vincennes factory had a connection to the French crown from its inception as it was established in 1740 in the royal fortress of the Château de Vincennes to the east of Paris. There, a handful of porcelain specialists started experimenting with porcelain as huge prices were paid by wealthy aristocrats for this glassy white substance which for the most part had to be imported from East Asia or from the Meissen factory in what is now Germany. It was the Saxon ruler Augustus the Strong who had led the drive in Europe to emulate Chinese porcelains and his Meissen factory was established in about 1710. During the early 1740s the majority of Vincennes' products were probably experimental as the porcelain body and enamel colours were was still being developed. By the late 1740s however, their products were accomplished with a wide range of enamel colours in use, followed from 1748 by gilding and, from 1752 onwards, the use of rich ground colours. By 1756 Vincennes had outgrown its workshops in the old château and the factory transferred to specially constructed premises at Sèvres. The Royal Manufactory specialised in exceptionally luxurious objects, many destined for the French court. Capable of startling innovation, the factory produced a constantly evolving repertoire to suit the changing tastes of its clients. Sèvres porcelain was admired and collected by the royal, noble and wealthy elite throughout Europe, and was also widely imitated.

Tea drinking never became as fashionable in France as in other European countries. But the practice existed at an aristocratic level as an alternative to the usual coffee and chocolate. So-called cabaret sets or déjeuners consisted of complete services on a tray for just one or two people. The Sèvres factory gave them the most luxurious treatment, since its patrons were the wealthiest members of French society. The service was orginally owned by a German aristocrat, Christian IV, Duke of Zweibrücken (1722-1775).

Rosalind Savill has researched this interesting service and discovered that Christian IV, known as the duc des Deux-Ponts in France, actually bought four déjeuners on 14th June 1775, costing an exorbitant 840 livreseach. They all had the most expensive type of decoration, a richly gilded ground colour and decoration of miniature painted scenes. The Duke was a great francophile and we know he also loved porcelain. He actually had his own porcelain factory in Zweibrücken, whose mark was his PZ monogram. It operated from 1767 until the Duke's death in 1775. Two of the other three services have been traced in auction house records and are presumably in private hands today. They were identified by their distinctive PN monogram - it appears the Sèvres gilder mistook the Duke's PZ monogram for PN.