AN INVENTORY DATED 1689 OF THE CHINESE PORCELAIN IN THE COLLECTION OF THE GRAND DAUPHIN, SON OF LOUIS XIV, AT VERSAILLES: In memoriam Pierre Verlet, le maitre supreme

Abstract

A manuscript inventory of the collections of the Grand Dauphin (Monseigneur), son of King Louis XIV of France, was taken in 1689. The part of this inventory reproduced and discussed here lists some 381 pieces of Chinese porcelain, mostly blue and white, though also including the Gaignières-Beckford vase. Some sixty-four of these had been presented to the Dauphin by the two Siamese ‘embassies’ of 1684 and 1686. Sizes and valuations are given for most pieces. The collection was dispersed after the Dauphin's death in 1711.