This service came to Vienna from Castle Miramare near Trieste, the former residence of Archduke Ferdinand Max, later to become Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. The archduke was the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. In 1854 he became commander-in-chief of the imperial and royal navy. In 1864 he accepted the emperorship of Mexico, but failed to establish himself in his new empire. He was taken prisoner by the leader of the republican forces, Benito Juarez, who had him shot by firing squad in 1867. You will hear more about this episode in the Imperial Apartments. The dinner service is a product of the Herend porcelain manufactory in Hungary, which initially specialised in copies of Chinese models. Emperor Maximilian ordered this service for his residence in Chapultepek in 1865. Moritz Fischer, the owner of the manufactory, was permitted to display the service in 1867 at the Paris World Exhibition as an advertisement for Herend’s wares. By the time the exhibition had ended Maximilian was dead, and the service was never sent to Mexico.

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