A Chinese armorial set for the French market (Bouczo du Rongouët). Yongzheng

Decorated in the famille rose palette, with sprays of peonies, the plate bearing the arms of the Bouczo du Rongouët family, d’azur à trois besants d’or, mis en bande et cotoyés de deux cotices de même.

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The dating and attribution proposed by A. Lebel seem to rest solely on the assumption that the service “must correspond” to the career of Pierre-Louis Bouczo, lieutenant of the king’s frigates, around 1745. Born in 1723, he would not have been able to commission this service before his twenties, thus in the 1740s.

However, the quality of the porcelain, the shapes of the teapot and cups, the floral decoration, the translucent enamels, and the Regence style of the armorial cartouche are incompatible with such a late dating. It is likely the lack of research regarding Louis-Philippe du Rongouët that led to this error.

Notice

This tea set and service was likely commissioned by Louis-Philippe Bouczo du Rongouët, steward to the Princess of Conti (1669 – 1740), a graduate of the University of Nantes, lawyer at the court, and steward of the Rhuys estate for the Princess of Conti.

According to Kerviler’s Breton biography, he resided in the noble house of Saint-Georges in Nostang in 1710. He married Anne Pottonier, Lady of Bréal (born in 1694), in 1715, at which time he is already identified as the steward of the Princess of Conti.

The Bouczo family is long-established in the department of Morbihan. Mr. de Magny dedicated a notice to them in Volume IV of his Golden Book of Nobility. Additional information can be found in Kerviler’s Directory of Breton Biobibliography. According to tradition, the family originated from Burgundy and settled in the town of Missiriac in the 15th century

Louis-Philippe Bouczo and Anne Pottonier had six children:

– Mathurine (born in 1716), who married Claude-Jean de Douville on December 7, 1740 (their son Pierre de Douville was born on November 8, 1741, and became an ensign in the King’s navy in 1776).
– Jeanne (born in 1716).
– Louis René Hyacinthe Anne (born in 1717), who became a lawyer at the Parliament of Paris in 1746, a royal counselor in 1761 (series E, supp. 1577 – GG.58), and a master of Waters and Forests for the department of Vannes in 1761 (Morbihan archives, series E).
– Ne (born on November 4, 1718).
– Jacques René (born on October 10, 1723 / buried on October 22, 1723).
– Pierre-Louis  (1723-1781)

Louis-Philippe Bouczo du Rongouët is the grandson of Julien Bouczo (born in 1610), Prosecutor and Royal Notary in Ploërmel, and the son of Laurent Bouczo de Kerponnier (1633–1694), who married Perrine Le Général (1644-1715).

The royal domain of Rhuys was awarded to Marie-Anne de Bourbon, widow of Prince Louis-Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, on February 10, 1711 (Archives du Morbihan, cote 93 J 738).

His son, Pierre-Louis Bouczo du Rongouët was lieutenant of the king’s frigates, son of the former, born on October 10, 1723, in Sarzeau, baptized on October 11, 1723, in Sarzeau, and deceased in 1781.

He served as lieutenant of the king’s frigates and married Françoise Rochereul de Promarzin (1745-1786). He was the owner of the manor of Mené in Saint-Armel (Morbihan). He is described as ‘captain of the French East India Company’ by his grandson, Amédée de Francheville, cited by Gaëtan de Langlais, a member of the same family, although this has not been verified through archival records.

He was granted a royal commission as captain of the coastguard of Rhuys, dated July 15, 1757, and countersigned by the Duke of Penthièvre, amidst the Seven Years’ War (Archives of Morbihan, 1J73).

Pierre-Louis Bouczo and Françoise de Rochereul had two daughters:

-Marie-Louise Bouczo du Rongouët (1776 – October 18, 1831), who married Gabriel de Francheville, owner of the Château de Truscat on the Rhuys peninsula (they had two children, Emilienne and Amédée de Francheville).
-Marine-Perrine Bouczo du Rongouët (1777 – June 8, 1837), who married Louis Armand de Bruc de Montplaisir.

Another member of the family was Louis René Hyacinthe Anne (born in 1717) Bouczo du Rongouët, Lawyer at the Parliament of Paris in 1746, Master of Waters and Forests for the department of Vannes in 1761 (Morbihan archives, series E).

Several documents on the family can be found in the Morbihan Archives in Vannes (cote 93J-394-393), including the inventory following the death of Françoise de Rochereul, widow of Pierre-Louis, which mentions him as ‘captain of the king’s frigates’. Numerous farms and salt marshes in Sarzeau and Guérande are listed there. The daughters also inherited from their uncle, Jean-Baptiste Rochereul de Kernosa.

The departmental archives of Morbihan hold the post-mortem inventories of his two daughters (cotes 93J334 and 93J399).

In the 18th century, Julien le Toullec used the non-noble particle ‘du Rongouët’, likely due to lands his family owned at Rongouët. Originally from St Cado in Belz, born in 1688, he departed from Port-Louis in 1717 on the Courrier de Bourbon, a ship of the East India Company, as an assistant major to oversee the company’s interests on Bourbon Island, under Antoine Desforges-Boucher.

Upon the death of the major in 1720, Julien replaced him and became the governor’s aide. A coffee planter, he owned slaves.

The Bouczo de Kercaradec family bears (according to the Armorial of the Arsenal) argent three chevrons sable.

The Bouczo du Rongouët family bears (according to the 1696 Armorial Generale) azure three bezants or placed in bend and bordered by two cotises of the same.

Perrine Le Général, widow of Laurent Bouczo (1633-1694) and mother of Louis-Philippe, registered her coat of arms in the Armorial Generale of 1696. (Pontivy Register).