Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres

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Service made of green and gold hard-paste porcelain with floral decoration by Denis-Désiré Riocreux, Sèvres 1814, Speed ​​Art Museum
Biscuit porcelain bust of Napoleon , 1811

The Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres is one of the most important European manufacturers for the production of frit porcelain . The manufacture has been based in Sèvres since 1756 .

Work history

"Manufacture de Vincennes"

In 1740, the fourth French porcelain factory was founded as a private company in the Château de Vincennes on the outskirts of Paris . After 1745 the manufactory gained in importance financially and artistically and technically. In Vincennes production was carried out under the name Manufacture de Vincennes until 1756 .

In Vincennes, the imitation of Meissen porcelain began . The initiator was the French finance minister Louis Henri Orry de Fulvy , who wanted to make French porcelain competitive and to curb imports from the Saxon town of Meissen . He recruited three former workers from the Chantilly porcelain factory , the brothers Gilles and Robert Dubois and François Gravant , to experiment with porcelain mass . In 1745 the production of frit porcelain succeeded , which enabled a number of new shapes and colors in its processing.

Hand washing set in Rosé Pompadour , approx. 1757–65, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris

The secret of the manufacture of hard-paste porcelain ( pâte dure ) was developed in Europe around 1708 in Meissen. Traditionally, porcelain was imported to Europe by the East India Company from China as Chinese commissioned porcelain as Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte and from Japan as Kakiemon and Imari porcelain .

One of the manufactory's most important clients was Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764). Due to its influence in society, the manufacture gained great importance. Their taste shaped the shapes and colors produced. In 1756 a color was named after her, the famous Rosé Pompadour . In addition to her influence on the artistic development of the manufactory, the marquise won various well-known artists as painters and model masters, including Jean-Jacques Bachelier , Jean-Claude Duplessis , François Boucher and Etienne-Maurice Falconet . Patronage. With her influence she aroused the interest of Louis XV. who financed the new building in Sèvres, which the manufactory moved into 18 years after it was founded in Vincennes. He secured the financing and turned it into a royal manufacture. The monopoly of colored painting assured by the king gave the manufactory another decisive advantage over its French competition.

"Manufacture royale de porcelaine de Sèvres"

Potpourri with Chinese decor, 1761, from the possession of the Marquise de Pompadour

In 1756, the factory moved to Sèvres, on the route from Paris to Versailles . On February 17, 1760, it finally passed into royal possession, until the French Revolution, as a result of which the manufacture was nationalized in 1790.

Porcelaine de Sèvres was exclusively soft-paste porcelain ( pâte tendre ) until 1769 . After the problem of the lack of kaolin was recognized in 1760 and deposits were discovered near Limoges in 1768 , real hard-paste porcelain could be produced. Both methods of production were maintained in Sèvres. For economic reasons, the manufacture of soft-paste porcelain was banned by Napoleon and stopped after the French Revolution. It was not until the second half of the 20th century that this forgotten technology was redeveloped and added to the repertoire.

"Manufacture nationale de Sèvres"

Today's Manufacture nationale de Sèvres has a small porcelain museum, in which parts of the oeuvre that has been produced since it was founded, such as dishes, sculptures, models and shapes, are exhibited.

The manufactory's oeuvre

Service, around 1810

The manufactory's production included both utility porcelain and pieces that were used exclusively for decorative purposes. Many of the vases were made in different sizes, in different colors, decors, scenes and gilding. Individual forms were often produced over a longer period of time and simply decorated differently. The names of the pieces are derived from the shape, the decor or from people.

Often sets were formed from the individual pieces. The characteristic of a "real" set is that the individual pieces used harmonize formally and form a unit. The same shapes of different sizes or different shapes with the same decor and the painted sequences of the themes of the scenes used were combined. In the 18th century sets were generally made of an odd number, usually three or five pieces. Sets were placed in prominent places in the room. They usually found their place on chests of drawers or mantelpiece. They often stood in front of a mirror that showed the second side of the painting.

Rococo

Vases

Vase "à tête d'éléphant" (elephant head vase) in rose pompadour , soft-paste porcelain, c. 1758 (part of a pair), Metropolitan Museum , New York

General

  • vases à oreilles , 1755, soft- paste porcelain, Wallace Collection , inventory number C241. The name is derived from the shape of the ear- shaped handles (French: oreille for ear).
  • cuvettes à fleurs' Verdun , 1755, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory C214.
  • vase pot pourri Pompadour , 1756, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C239.
  • vases à dauphin , 1756, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C215. Birds by Louis-David Armand . Dauphin is derived from the name Dauphin, which belonged to the firstborn son of the French king and heir to the throne as regent and received the lands of the Dauphiné .
  • vase à tête d'éléphant , 1757, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C249. The vase was combined with the function of a candelabra and placed in front of mirrors to increase the amount of light. It is attributed to Dodin. It has the same base as the vases urn antique made around 1758 .
  • vase hollandois , 1757, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C217.
  • cuvettes à fleurs à tombeau , 1757, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory C204. Jean-Louis Morin . The name is derived from the shape of a sarcophagus common in antiquity and later in the Renaissance . The interior was partially divided by individual compartments in order to provide support for the flowers. Partly porcelain flowers were placed in the vase.
  • cuvettes à fleurs à masques , 1757, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory C225.
  • vase pot pourri gondole , 1757, soft- paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory C248. It is one of the first pieces to use a boat shape in Sèvres porcelain.
  • vases à oreilles , 1758, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C252. Morin.
  • vase Boileau , 1758, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C251. With military scenes. Attributed to Morin. This type of vase was used for decorative purposes only. The name is derived from the name of Jaques-Rene Boileau de Picardie . He was director of the porcelain manufactory in Vincennes from 1751 to 1756 and of the Sévres manufactory from 1756–1772.
  • vases hollandois nouveau ovale , 1758, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C233. The vase is an example of a decorative vase for cut flowers.
  • vases urn antique , 1758, soft- paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C244. Birds by Louis-David Armand . The name is derived from the reference to an ancient Greek vase.
  • vase pot pourri Hébert , c. 1760, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C254. A pot-pourri vase, vase with a lid. The name of the person Hébert is not unique. It could be a Marchand-Mercier from the time.
  • cuvettes à fleurs à tombeau , 1760, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C206. Genre scenes by Antoine Caton .
  • vase pot pourri à vaisseau or vase en navire 'gondole , c. 1761, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory C256. Pot-pourri vase and birds possibly from Armand the Elder.
  • vases pot pourri feuilles de mirte , approx. 1761, soft- paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C257. green with birds in landscape, pear-shaped, with Greek stem pattern.
  • vases hollandois , 1763, soft-paste porcelain, Wallace Collection, inventory number C223. Attributed to Morin Harbor Scenes. The vase is an example of a decorative vase for cut flowers.

The name refers to the shape of the handles and the type of decoration. From the mid 50s of the 17th century, the archaeological search for forms of antiquity intensified. The Rococo and the incipient classicism coexist. The manufactory in Sèvres paved the way for classical design in France and Europe.

classicism

Group of figures made of bisque porcelain, before 1800

From around 1770, the somewhat neglected production of tableware increased again, while the proportion of vases decreased. For example, a service with an antique design was designed for Catherine II of Russia during this period . Also worth mentioning are the “ Etruscan style” dining sets from Lagrenée the Younger .

During the Vincennes era, the manufacture began hesitantly with panels as decoration for furniture and display objects such as clocks and barometers. In Sèvres, this production division was a complete success. The pieces were in large numbers to Marchand Mercier sold (dealer who worked outside the home as an interior decorator) that distinguish them from the best art carpenters ( cabinetmakers were mounted).

Towards the end of the century, fabric structures and naturalistically painted floral decors as well as depictions of birds appeared as new decorative elements on Sèvres porcelain, as well as countless polychrome decors based on the reproduction of Roman and Etruscan artefacts . At the same time, the production of figures and groups of figures made of bisque porcelain , which has existed since 1751, reached unimagined heights. Figures, busts, reliefs and medals are still made from the unglazed and therefore matt porcelain, invented in Sèvres and reminiscent of marble or alabaster .

Sèvres porcelain vase in the anteroom to Napoléon I's dining room, Compiègne Castle

19th century

As with the large manufactories in Berlin and Meißen, the formal language of the 18th century predominated in Sèvres in the 19th century. The extremely colorful, area-wide painting of the parts is typical. Characteristic decorative porcelain in the first half of the century was the magnificent vase with clear Empire elements.

In the middle of the century, Louis Robert invented pâte sur pâte painting, a method of decorating porcelain and earthenware that was later introduced in the factories in Berlin and Meißen. A vase from Sèvres caused a sensation at the world exhibition in London in 1851. Sèvres and a little later also the Minton porcelain factory in Staffordshire / England brought this technique to bloom in the 1860s.

Picture gallery

literature

  • Exhibition catalog: Sèvres porcelain. From the 18th century to the present. 5.10. – 2. November 1975, Hetjens Museum , Düsseldorf.
  • Emile Bourgeois: Le biscuit de Sèvres au XVIIIe siècle. Paris 1909.
  • Emile Bourgeois, Georges Lechevallier-Cherignard: Le biscuit de Sèvres - Recueil de modèles de la manufacture de Sèvres. Paris 1913.
  • Ludwig Dankert: Handbook of European porcelain. Munich 1984.
  • Svend Eriksen, Geoffrey de Bellaique: Sèvres Porcelain - Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1800. London / Boston 1987.
  • Serge Grandjean, Marcelle Brunet: Sèvres . Vol. I & II. Paris 1954.
  • Georges Haumont: La Manufacture de Sèvres au XVIIIe siècle. Lisbon 1939.
  • Jeanne Terrasson: Madame de Pompadour et la création de la Porcelaine de France. Paris 1969.
  • David Battie (Ed.): Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain. Octopus Publishing, London 1990, ISBN 0-7537-0058-1 , p. 107.

See also

Web links

Commons : Sèvres porcelain  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 49 ′ 43 ″  N , 2 ° 13 ′ 21 ″  E