In 1758 the Sèvres porcelain manufactory introduced this shape, designed to be mounted onto a small table. The manufactory named the form, described in the Sèvres archives as a plateau de Courteille ou de chiffonière, after the marquis de Courteille, one of Louis XV's financiers, who represented the king's interest at Sèvres from 1751.

The Sèvres artist Charles-Nicolas Dodin copied the scene from a painting by François Boucher onto the plaque. The original painting was set into wood paneling above a door in an important Parisian townhouse, the Hôtel de Soubise. It became one of Boucher's most popular scenes in the 1700s, known through many prints that circulated widely throughout Europe.