Limoges Gold Encrusted Tea Service for 10 by Lanternier, 41 pcs

  
A large Limoges tea service for 10 in French hard-paste porcelain, with heavy gold borders. The decoration is a broad acid-etched gold band running round every piece, dense scrolling foliage and small rosettes, with a fringe of gilt leaf points over the white ground. The bodies are softly fluted, and the milk jug is the showpiece, with its whole spout and handle gilded and a gold arabesque band around the neck. Most items carry two marks.

Lanternier, the Limoges factory that made the blank porcelain. The starburst LEC mark, with Porcelaine d'Art on the jug, is the decorating studio that applied the gilding. Lanternier began as a decorating workshop in Limoges in 1857 and took over the Chabrol factory in the 1880s; the anchor mark dates from between 1891 and 1914. No chips, no cracks and no restoration on any piece. The gilding is bright and intact on the cups, saucers and side plates.

On the breakfast plates the inner gold rims show visible wear from use, please see the photographs. I know how to professionally pack fragile items.