Pre-emption acquisition of two Sèvres porcelain buckets from Louis XVI's mythological service, at the Château de Versailles
Versailles secures two unique crenellated buckets from Louis XVI's service
On 22 September 2026, Versailles exercised its right of pre-emption at Artcurial to acquire the only two known crenellated buckets from the mythological service of Louis XVI, left unfinished after the Revolution.
Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux ·
On 22 September 2026, the Château de Versailles exercised its right of pre-emption during an auction organised by Artcurial in Paris to acquire two crenellated bottle buckets in soft-paste Sèvres porcelain. Painted by Pierre-André Le Guay the Younger between 1784 and 1791, these two pieces are the only known examples of this form within the so-called 'mythological' service, commissioned by Louis XVI and left unfinished after the Revolution.
On 22 September 2026, the Château de Versailles exercised its right of pre-emption during an auction organised by Artcurial in Paris to acquire two crenellated bottle buckets in soft-paste Sèvres porcelain, painted by Pierre-André Le Guay the Younger between 1784 and 1791.
Funded by a bequest to the Friends of Versailles Society, this pre-emption illustrates how the château continues to reconstruct, piece by piece, a royal service dispersed since the Revolution.
Read next
Sources