Plate Proserpine Sèvres cameo service circa 1808

Sèvres,
Rare plate from the ‘cameo’ service representing Proserpine in profile in the imitation of a cameo in a medallion bearing the inscription on the base ‘med. de la bibli imp’. It comes from the service delivered to Napoleon 1st and offered to Count Nikolai Petrovich Romanzoff.
Mark on reverse ‘Manufacture Impériale de Sèvres 8’
First Empire circa 1808

From the dessert service known as ‘à marly fond d'or avec laurier en gris têtes imitant le camée’, also known as ‘Service Laurier gris sur fond de têtes dans le genre camée’,
this rare plate from the Manufacture de Sèvres was presented by order of Napoleon I to Count Nikolai Petrovich Romanzoff, then Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Delivered on 11 February 1809, this ceremonial service consisted of ‘cameo’ plates, each decorated with a mythological or antique profile painted in imitation of a cameo, framed by a laurel frieze on a golden background
. This service is a perfect illustration of the combination of imperial luxury and neoclassical taste in the service
of Napoleon's foreign policy.