Short Takes : Feast of Rare China Set for Bids

PARIS — A rare collection of historic china, including pieces that once graced the tables of Marie Antoinette, goes to the auction block next month at the Georges V Hotel.

The pieces were gathered over three decades by Camille Le Tallec, 85, one of France’s most celebrated ceramists, who has decorated dinnerware for European royalty and Tiffany eggs for American connoisseurs.

One of the least expensive items for sale is a saucer that could fetch $150, while a rare 16th-Century china clock adorned with flowers and human faces is estimated to be worth $60,000.

Among the most prized items are an 18th-Century water jug made for Madame Du Barry bearing her initials, a piece from Marie Antoinette’s dinner service that experts had thought to be lost, and a water pitcher and basin dating from the Revolution--one of the few pieces ever done in its particular shade of lavender.