he most important French porcelain factory was founded in 1740 in the royal chateau of Vincennes. In 1756 it was transferred to Sèvres, to the south-west of Paris, and shortly after was bought by the king, Louis XV. The Sèvres factory was conviently located on the road to Versailles, the seat of royal power. The support and protection of the king and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, enabled the factory to secure the best artists, sculptors, designers and chemists. Sèvres soon became the most sought after porcelain in Europe.

Small low, covered tureens and matching stands like this were used for serving soups, bouillon and other similar foodstuffs in private apartments at breakfast, through the long hours of the toilette and to ill or disabled people in bed. The French name for such tureens was an 'écuelle' and in German they were sometimes called a 'Wöchnerinnterrine' or 'maternity tureen'. However, while they certainly were used to serve restorative foods to women after chilbirth, they were much more widely used by women, as well as by men. Some (but not this one) have covers fitted with feet, enabling this part to be reversed to serve as a plate for dealing with meat or marrow bones. They were not made as part of a dinner service, but were a standard component of toilet services. Being made for personal use, they were usually finely decorated. They were made in porcelain, silver and other materials.

This Sèvres porcelain example was formerly in the collection of Ralph Bernal (1783-1854). Bernal was a politician who had a long parliamentary career from 1818-1852. His private fortune, derived from estates in the West Indies inherited in 1810, allowed him to buy exquisite works of art, particularly silver, glass, ceramics and miniatures. Following his death, the auctioneers Christie and Manson held a series of sales in 1855 of 4,294 lots, 730 of which were acquired for the Museum of Manufactures at Marlborough House. (This collection later became the Victoria and Albert Museum).

Savill, Rosalind. The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, 3 vols. London: Trustees of the Wallace Collection, 1988.
Henry G. Bohn. A Guide to the Knowledge of Pottery, Porcelain and Other Objects of Vertu, comprising an Illustrated Catalogue of the Bernal Collection of Works of Art. London: Bell & Daldy, 3rd edn. 1872.