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Sèvres Porcelain - April
2008
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Sèvres soft-paste porcelain vases
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
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A selection of Sèvres soft-paste porcelain
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
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The Ingalls Library Rare Book Collection includes a small, but exquisitely
printed, group of books on Sèvres porcelain. Founded in 1740 as
the Vincennes Porcelain Factory, the company moved to Sèvres, France
in 1756 and produced both soft paste and hard paste porcelain. As the
official porcelain manufacturer to the crown, the company designed objects
for use by the royal family and other aristocrats.
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Vincennes soft-paste porcelain bouquet of flowers
Le Biscuit de Sèvres: Recueil des Modeles de la Manufacture de
Sèvres au XVIIIe Siècle |
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Sèvres hard-paste Mirror, "The Toilet of Venus," 1781
Le Biscuit de Sèvres: Recueil des Modeles de la Manufacture de
Sèvres au XVIIIe Siècle |
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Click on an image for a larger view
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| The patronage of Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's
mistress, contributed to the success of the company. She encouraged artists
of the time, including Francois Boucher and the French Neoclassical sculptor
Augustin Pajou to become involved with the factory. Typical figures and
flowers and other decorative objects from the manufactory are illustrated
in Emile Bourgeois' two-volume set Le Biscuit de Sèvres au XVIIIe
Sièle. |
Francois Boucher, painter to the King, 1703-1770
Le Biscuit de Sèvres: Recueil des Modeles de la Manufacture de
Sèvres au XVIIIe Sièle |
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Augustin Pajou
Le Biscuit de Sèvres: Recueil des Modeles de la Manufacture de
Sèvres au XVIIIe Sièle |
Sèvres soft-paste figure, 1761
Le Biscuit de Sèvres: Recueil des Modeles de la Manufacture de
Sèvres au XVIIIe Siècle
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Sèvres fount and basin
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
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The Sèvres Porcelain Factory produced
some of the most exquisitely designed and decorated porcelain ever made.
In addition to dinner services, the company produced figures and extravagantly
decorated vases embellished with three-dimensional designs.The company also
introduced unique colors including rose Pompadour and bleu de
roi. Among the most beautifully illustrated books in the Ingalls Library's
Rare Book Collection is Edouard Garnier's La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres.
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Sèvres soft-paste porcelain vases
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
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A selection of Sèvres soft-paste porcelain
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
Typical Sèvres designs
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
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Sèvres potpourri vase
La Porcelaine Tendre de Sèvres |
Sèvres porcelain in the Chinese and Egyptian styles
Description Methodique du Museé Céramique de la Manufacture
Royale de Porcelaine de Sèvres |
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The French Revolution and the ensuing chaos
found the Sèvres Porcelain Factory in a precarious state; under the
direction of Alexandre Brogniart (director 1800-1847) the industry revived.
Three plates from Brogniart's sumptuously illustrated book Description
Méthodique du Museé Céramique de la Manufacture Royale
de Porcelaine. attests to the elegance and refinement of Sèvres
porcelain. |
Sèvres. Renaissance-style table
Description Methodique du Museé Céramique de la Manufacture
Royale de Porcelaine de Sèvres |
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Sèvres. table decorations by Fragonard
Description Methodique du Museé Céramique de la Manufacture
Royale de Porcelaine de Sèvres |
The company's success in the 19th century ebbed-and-flowed
due to economic conditions and changing artistic tastes. In 1876, the sculptor
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was appointed artistic director; however,
in the late 1880s, the company faced problems due to the combination of
Carrier-Belleuse's death in 1887 and the lackluster reception of Sèvres
porcelain at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris.
By 1900 new designs were introduced and the company's porcelain was well-received
at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. The company flourished again
until World War I halted production of fine porcelain. |
| Between the two World Wars, the company was managed
by a succession of directors, including Alexandre Sandier (1896-1916) and
Georges Lechevallier-Chevignard (1920-1938). Two plates from the Sandier/Lechevallier-Chevignard
volume Les Carton de la Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres...
illustrate the delicate floral compositions used to decorate Sèvres dinner
services.
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Designs for plate borders, 1791-1792
Les Cartons de la Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres: Epoques Louis
XVI et Empire... |
| The company continues to receive commissions and produces
both traditional and contemporary porcelain. Sèvres porcelain, both
old and new, holds an esteemed place in the history of porcelain manufacture
and collecting. |
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