Referred to as Service des plantes de la Malmaison, Service aux Liliacées de l’Imperatrice Joséphine, or Service de la Flore Parisienne, this 108-piece dessert set was made for Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and later Empress of France, between 1802 and 1805. The botanical decorations are based on watercolors by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the famous flower painter. The service depicts the lilies and other flowering plants cultivated by Josephine at Malmaison, her Paris residence.

Joséphine acquired the Château de Malmaison in 1798, her goal was to build a collection of plants that would surpass all the others in France. She utilized services of top botanists, her husband’s wealth and imperial reach to create a one-of-a-kind collection of exotic flora from both temperate and subtropical regions.