The Home Beautiful: The Rousseau Dinner Service, C. 1866

Part of a Dinner Service by Milliet LeBeuf et Cie, c. 1866
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This plate of earthenware depicts a lobster, flowers and an insect on a white ground.  It was made in Creil, France between 1866-1867 as part of a superb and impressive dinner service known as “The Rousseau Dinner Service.” 

The pattern was designed by Feliz Braquemond and made by Milliet LeBeuf et Cie for François-Eugène Rousseau (1827-1891).  Braquemond’s motifs were taken from Japanese prints including the Mangwa of the artist known as Hokusai.

The set was shown in the Universal Exhibition of Paris, 1867.