The distinctive blue-and-white faience plates of the Imaria type, with a mysterious inscription written in kufic letters, scattered in queues all over the world, were made at the Royal Faience Manufactory in Belvedere on the order of the last king, Stanislaw August.

History of the faience manufactory at Belvedere
Following the example of European rulers, the Polish King Stanislaw August (1732-1798), wanted to own a porcelain manufactory. A whole host of 'specialists', supposedly knowing the secret of the manufacture of 'white gold', passed through the royal antiseptic chamber. In the end, Stanislaus Augustus chose a Bavarian, Baron Franz Joseph Schütter, as the director of his dream manufactory. Little is known about his recommendations and experience - it seems that the main reason for this choice was Schütter's wife, Maria de Cumano, whose charms the Polish king was to succumb to. However, while the relationship between the King and the Baroness most likely blossomed - as evidenced by the busts of the two of them commissioned by Maria de Cumano in Rome from the Italian sculptor Domenico Cardelli (now in the collection of the Lazienki Park) - the venture called Polish Porcelain failed (it only succeeded in 1790 in Korc). Schütter failed to obtain the much-desired porcelain mass, and the manufactory established in 1770 in the royal Belvedere produced only faience, a lower-quality ceramic product. The manufactory mainly fulfilled orders from the king and the court, and the range included table services, decorative vases and small ceramic accessories such as inkwells, snuff boxes and cosmetic containers.

Two services. Gift to the Sultan
Products from the Belvedere manufactory were on the equipment of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The 'General Inventory' of 1795 lists 'vases from the Belvedere factory and fifty-nine deep plates and sixty shallow plates of faience, painted blue, in various colours and gilded, from the Belvedere factory, constituting a table service which His Majesty the King presented to the Turkish ambassador'. We are talking about the second copy of the famous table suit, the so-called Sultan service - both copies were made at the Belvedere manufactory. The first copy was a gift from Stanislaus Augustus to the Turkish Sultan Abdül Hamid I. The gift was sent to Istanbul in 1777. The second one was made for the use of the Polish king, hence its mention in the quoted list of furnishings of the Royal Castle. It should also be mentioned that several dishes of the Sultan service were made at the Belvedere at this time, but without gilding or dedication - these were trial pieces, further indicated by the unfinished decoration.

Far Eastern decoration
Each dish was originally decorated - the dominant colours are blue, red, white and gold. There is a floral bouquet in the centre, and representations of birds and butterflies on the flanges of the vessels. With the copy intended for the Sultan additionally decorated with gilding and a dedication - the inscription in Kufic letters, clearly indicates the purpose of the service: "These presents and gifts are sent to the Padyszach of the House of Osman by the King of Lech, for the most complete love and sincere kindness. In the capital Warsaw". The decoration of the service imitates the Far Eastern type of porcelain decoration called "Imari" from 1720-1730, copies of which were in the collection of August II the Strong. This type of decoration was not only inspired by the Belvedere, it was also imitated in the Venetian manufactory of Geminiano Cozzi around 1770.

Scattering of services
The Belvedere manufactory recorded the making of a total of 280 dishes comprising both copies of the Sultan service. These included 144 shallow and deep plates and 136 dishes of other types, i.e. round and oval platters, tureens with lids and saucers, salt cellars and others. The inventory of Topkapı Palace in 1778 records 160 dishes of Sultan service, which was given to the Sultan by the Polish king. According to the latest research by Dr Anna Szkurlat, author of the first monographic study of the Sultan service, 52 vessels from the service have survived to this day in the collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul, while the rest have been dispersed. The question of the dispersal of the service is extremely intricate, the history of the individual vessels must be traced, in addition to taking into account the dispersal of the two services, the one from Topkapı Palace and the other from the Royal Castle in Warsaw. One thesis explains the dispersion of the Istanbul set by the custom of the sultan and his successors to give dishes to guests. Another thesis states that the service was removed from the palace around the mid-19th century, and that later in Istanbul the service pieces were acquired by diplomats and travellers. The castle pieces, on the other hand, were dispersed through inheritance by members of families related to King Stanislaw August. In the 19th and 20th centuries, vessels from the Sultan service were present in private collections at home and abroad, were offered for sale on the art market, and found their way into various museum collections. According to Dr Szkurłat's meticulous calculations, single pieces are currently found in museum collections abroad (in London's Victoria and Albert Museum - 1 plate; New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art - 2 plates, 1 platter; Musée Ariana-Musée suisse de la céramique et du verre in Geneva - 2 plates; Musée nationaux de céramique in Sèvres - 2 plates; Museum for Kunst and Gewerbe in Hamburg - 2 plates; Winterthur Museum in Delaware - 1 plate) and in Polish collections (Royal Castle in Warsaw - 9 objects, Royal Castle in Wawel - 1 plate; National Museum in Kraków - 1 plate; Museum of Warsaw - 1 plate). Sample specimens have also been identified in the collections of the Jagiellonian University Museum (1 plate) and the National Museum in Warsaw (3 objects). A number of vessels remain in private collections. In addition, individual pieces of the dispersed Sultan service also appear on the international art market, both in auction houses and in antique shops.