This large dessert service, 94 pieces of which are in the possession of the Hermitage, was produced by the Diehl et Guérhard Manufactory. Invariable component of such gala dessert services were compotiers of various shapes, plates, fruit baskets and bowls. Fruit bowls mounted on caryatids and genuflecting figures served as a centrepiece for the gala table, combining a decorative function with practical purpose. This service also includes figures of a purely decorative nature — twelve cupids evidently produced from eighteenth-century models. The cupids and caryatids were produced in biscuit (unglazed porcelain) imitating bronze using a technique that became a speciality of the Diehl et Guérhard Manufactory. All the items are completely gilded and decorated with plant ornament formed from the contrast of matte and burnished areas in a very rare instance of the use of such an expensive method on a large service with many pieces. Painted motifs in the form of medallions containing polychromatic landscapes and stylized cameo - like ancient figures and heads on a brown background enliven the gilded surface of the pieces in the service. Thirty-four plates featuring polychromatic scenes are adorned by copies of historical, genre and landscape paintings. The completely gilded plates and compotiers are decorated with a matte-and-burnished coat-of-arms: a single-headed eagle on a heraldic shield against the background of a princely ermine mantle. On some pieces the coat-of-arms is replaced by the monogram E worked in the same technique. It was this monogram that gave the service its name.