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The following Hochst and Royal Vienna porcelain have seen a dark history. They were originally part of a private collection of porcelain that were subject to restitution after they were looted by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR - the Nazi military group charged with
the seizure of works of art from Jewish owners) from the Chenue depositary in Paris in 1942. The collection was ascribed to Lucy Sophie Yvonne de Jonquet, born in 1878, in Peckham. Her older brother, Adolphe Ambrose married a Rosamond Taylor, who may have had an acquaintance with
a lady of title, the Countess d'Etchegoyen, who introduced Lucy to London society. In 1895 Lucy married a wealthy industrialist, John Graham. Unfortunately, he died suddenly and at the age of 20 Lucy appears to be a widow living off her husband’s income.
Ferdinand Franz Maria, the Prince Colloredo-Mannsfeld, a hereditary prince of Austro-Hungarian origin. This marriage was dissolved by divorce in 1925 as there were questions regarding Lucy’s family history. Apparently only women of noble birth could marry into the
Colloredo-Mannsfield family and her lineage was not distinguished enough to allow her to be presented at court. Possibly via her marriage she acquired this collection of porcelain which was stored at the Chenue depositary prior to the Second World war. It is known that she moved
to Italy, and that she died on 11 April 1940 in Rome. On the 6th February 1942 the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg corps visited the warehouses and the collection of porcelain was moved to the Jeu de Paume Museum for documentation
before being sent to Seisenegg castle in Austria. After the war it was removed from there and by 1950 was laid in the storerooms of the Sevres Museum in Paris before finally being traced to the heirs of Lucy’s estate and released on the 13th February 2020.
The inventory numbers on the bases of these pieces probably relate to their time in the Sèvres porcelain factory.
