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French porcelain
French porcelain has a history spanning a period from the 17th century to
French porcelain
the present. The French were heavily involved in the early European efforts to
discover the secrets of making the hard-paste porcelain known from Chinese
and Japanese export porcelain. They succeeded in developing soft-paste
porcelain, but Meissen porcelain was the first to make true hard-paste, around
1710, and the French took over 50 years to catch up with Meissen and the other
German factories.

But by the 1760s, kaolin had been discovered near Limoges, and the relocated
royal-owned Sèvres factory took the lead in European porcelain design as Chantilly, 1750–1755
rococo turned into what is broadly known as the Louis XVI style and then the
Empire style. French styles were soon being imitated in porcelain in Germany,
Rouen (1673–96)
England, and as far afield as Russia. They were also imitated in the cheaper
French faience, and this and other materials elsewhere. This dominance lasted Saint-Cloud (1693–1766)

until at least 1830. Chantilly (1730–1800)

Vincennes (1740–56)
Before the French Revolution in 1789, French production was complicated by
Mennecy (1745–65)
various royal patents and monopolies restricting the production of various
types of wares, which could sometimes be circumvented by obtaining the Sèvres (1756–present)
"protection" of a member of the royal family or senior courtier; this might or Etiolles (1766–?)
might not involve ownership by them. Revol (1768–present)

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, France had a vigorous faience Limoges (1771–present)

industry, making high-quality tin-glazed earthenware that remained in touch Clignancourt (1775–1790)
with artistic fashion. At least before 1800, this catered to the lower end of the Dihl and Guérhard (1781–1828)
market very successfully, so that porcelain factories concentrated on the top
Nast (1783–1835)
end, in France and elsewhere. Compared to other European countries, French
manufacturers have generally concentrated on tablewares and decorative François Xavier d'Entrecolles
vessels rather than figures, with Mennecy-Villeroy porcelain being something
of an exception.[1] Where figures and groups were produced, these were most often in the French invention of unglazed
biscuit porcelain.

Contents
Soft-paste blue-and-white porcelain
Asian polychrome designs
Development of original French designs
Empire style
19th century
See also
Notes

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References

Soft-paste blue-and-white porcelain

Chinese porcelain had long been imported from China, and was a very
expensive and desired luxury. Chinese porcelains were treasured, collected
from the time of Francis I, and sometimes adorned with elaborate mountings
of precious metal to protect them and enhance their beauty. Huge amounts
especially of silver were sent from Europe to China[2] to pay for the desired
Chinese porcelain wares, and numerous attempts were made to duplicate the
material.[3]

It was at the Nevers manufactory that Chinese-style blue and white wares were
produced for the first time in France, with production running between 1650
and 1680.[4] Chinese styles would then be taken up by factories in Normandy,
especially following the foundation of the French East India Company in
1664.[4]

The first soft-paste porcelain in France was developed in an effort to imitate

high-valued Chinese hard-paste porcelain,[5] and follow the attempts of Medici Rouen soft-paste porcelain, the first
French porcelain, end of the 17th
porcelain in the 16th century.[6] The first soft-paste frit porcelain, was
century
produced at the Rouen manufactory in 1673, in order to mimic "la véritable
porcelaine de Chine" ("The true porcelain of China"),[5][7] and became known
as "Porcelaine française".[5] The technique of producing the new material was discovered by the Rouen potter Louis
Poterat;[5] his licence to make "faience and porcelain" was taken out in 1673, signed by the king and Jean-Baptiste
Colbert[8] The soft porcelain used blue designs of the type already used in the faiences of the period.[5] Dr. Martin Lister
reported from his voyage to Paris, printed in 1698, that a manufacture of porcelain "as white and translucid as the one that
came from the East" was in full operation at Saint-Cloud.[9]

The French lexicographer Jacques Savary des Brûlons wrote in 1722 about these first experiments in his Dictionnaire
universel du commerce:

Fifteen or twenty years ago an attempt was made in France to copy Chinese porcelain: the first attempts
made in Rouen were quite successful, ... these faience objects from new factories are not ranked as French
faience – this is the genuine porcelain invented by the French during the last few years and manufactured
successively in Rouen, Passy near Paris, and then in Saint Cloud.[10]

Colbert set up the Royal Factory of Saint-Cloud in 1664 in order to make copies (In the original "Contre-façons", i.e.
"Fakes") of "Indian-style" porcelain.[11] Saint-Cloud became a very important manufactory for the new wares.

However, once French manufacturers discovered how to produce a much wider range of colours in porcelain by the 1730s,
using overglaze "enamel" decoration, they abandoned underglaze blue more quickly and thoroughly than those of other
European countries - some English factories continued to make a significant proportion of blue and white wares until the
end of the century and beyond.

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Faience (not porcelain) with Chinese Saint-Cloud manufactory soft-paste

scenes, Nevers manufactory, 1680- porcelain vase, with blue designs
1700. under glaze, 1695–1700

Saint-Cloud manufactory, 1700–1710

Asian polychrome designs

Louis XIV had received 1,500 pieces of porcelain from the Siamese Embassy to
France in 1686, but the manufacturing secret had remained elusive.[11]

France finally discovered the Chinese technique of hard-paste porcelain

through the efforts of the Jesuit Father François Xavier d'Entrecolles between
1712 and 1722.[11] The letters sent to Father Orry in Paris were first published
by Jean-Baptiste Du Halde in 1735, with English editions appearing in 1736 or
1738.[12] The letters were later again published by Abbé Jean-Baptiste Grosier
in his General Description of China.[13] D'Entrecolles also sent material Saint-Cloud soft-paste porcelain
flower holder, in Chinese "Famille
specimens to Europe, which were analysed by Réaumur, and led to the
Rose" style, 1730–1740
establishment of the Sèvres Manufactory once equivalent materials were found
in Europe.[13]

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After 1730, polychrome porcelain also came to be produced, often in imitation of Chinese polychrome styles of porcelain,
such as the "Famille rose" types. The Japanese Kakiemon style of Arita porcelain, Japan, known as "Fleurs indiennes"
("Flowers of the Indies") was also used as an inspiration, especially in Saint-Cloud porcelain and Chantilly porcelain. A
patent granted to the Chantilly factory in 1735 by Louis XV specifically describes the right to make porcelain façon de
Japon ("in imitation of the porcelain of Japan").[14]

Meanwhile, the manufacturing technique of soft-paste porcelain seems to have been transmitted to England by French
Huguenot refugees. The first soft-paste in England was demonstrated by Thomas Briand to the Royal Society in 1742 and
is believed to have been based on the Saint-Cloud formula.[15]

Chantilly porcelain sugar bowl, Pair of square flasks, c. 1730–1740,

Japanese Kakiemon style, made Chantilly
under Ciquaire Cirou, 1725–1751

Chantilly soft-paste porcelain teapot Vincennes plate, 1749–53; a Chinese

with Chinese design, 1735–1740 subject treated in a Western style

Development of original French designs

After this initial period, up to the end of the 18th century, French porcelain manufactories would progressively abandon
their Chinese and Japanese designs, to become more French in character.[11] Vincennes soft-paste porcelain started to
display original French inspiration towards its last years of operation, after which the abundant, varied, and original
productions of Sèvres porcelain continued the trend. Biscuit porcelain was first used at Vincennes in 1751 by the director

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Jean-Jacques Bachelier; this simply involved not glazing or painting the piece
after a single firing, leaving a matt surface resembling marble.[16] But the
pieces had to be perfect, as there was no glaze to cover up faults, so in practice
the wastage made them more expensive to produce. Brilliant new colours were
developed at Vincennes and Sèvres in the 1750s and 1760s, especially a blue
and a rose.[17] These were often shown off as the ground colour of the body,
with painted decoration within compartments left with a white ground.

In 1756 the Vincennes factory was moved to Sèvres, where it still remains in
production, and in 1759 it was bought by the king, although his mistress
Madame de Pompadour was allowed effective free rein to oversee it. A period
of superb quality in both design and production followed, creating much of the
enduring reputation of French porcelain. The light-hearted Rococo was given a
more serious air, often by restricting it to the painting, rather than the
porcelain shape.[18]

Porcelain production further developed with Limoges porcelain, a type of hard-

paste porcelain produced by factories near the city of Limoges, France. The
manufacturing of hard-paste porcelain in Limoges was established in 1771
Elephant-head vase, 1757–1758,
following the discovery of local supplies of kaolin and a material similar to one of Sèvres's most exuberant
petuntse in the economically distressed area at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, near designs, made in pairs
Limoges. In parallel, soft-paste porcelain continued to be manufactured
however, as it was less expensive to produce.[19]

Nast porcelain (1783–1835) and Dihl and Guérhard (1781–1828) were two of a number of factories making very high-
quality porcelain in Paris in the decades around 1800. This contrasted with London, where the factories had all closed or
removed north by 1775, although the capital remained, like Paris, a centre for decorating plain "blanks" made elsewhere –
in France often in Limoges porcelain. Dagoty and Honoré and Darte were other Paris factories. By 1830 most factories had
closed or moved to Limoges.[20]

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Vincennes dish, 1750–56 Vincennes soft-porcelain cup, 1750–

1752

Sèvres pot-pourri vase in the shape of Sèvres Manufactory sucrier and cover
a ship, 1763, porcelain – pot à sucre Bouret shape – circa
1770

The Grape Eaters, after Francois Drop-front desk (secrétaire à abattant

Boucher, Vincennes, 1752, a very or secrétaire en cabinet) with six
early biscuit porcelain group Sèvres plaques, c. 1776

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Empire style
Even before the French revolution, the initially severe style of Neoclassicism had begun to turn grandiose and ornate in
goods for the courts of the Ancien Régime. This trend deepened with the rise of Napoleon, which followed a difficult
period for French porcelain factories. The Empire style was marked by lavish gilding, strong colours, and references to
military conquests; Napoleon's ultimately unsuccessful expedition to Egypt sparked a fashion for "Neo-Egyptian" wares.

In 1800 Napoleon, as Minister of the Interior, appointed Alexandre Brongniart director at Sèvres; he was to stay 47 years,
making many changes. The factory concentrated on tableware and larger decorative pieces such as vases and table
centrepieces, much of it for the government to use or give as diplomatic presents.[21]

Cup and saucer, Dagoty, Paris, c. Sèvres cup with silver handle from a
1810 breakfast service

One of a pair of Sèvres vases, 1809 Teapot, Sèvres 1817

19th century
The Empire style grew more elaborate and ostentatious as the century continued, developing most aspects of "Victorian"
taste in a French style. Under the Second Empire from 1852 to 1870; there was a revival of Louis XVI style at Sèvres, often
more heavily painted and gilded. Many of the old moulds which the factory had kept were used again.[22]

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Apart from Sèvres, most factories had moved to Limoges by about 1830, with
many companies making Limoges porcelain, of which Haviland & Co. was the
most successful. This was founded in the 1840s by porcelain importers in
America, and a strong market in America supported them through rough
patches. They also led a reconnection of ceramics with contemporary trends in
the fine arts, especially Japonisme, using artists such as Ernest Chaplet
(though much of his work was in stoneware rather than porcelain) and Félix
Bracquemond. Around Paris the factory of Jacob Petit at Fontainebleau The three 'boat shaped' potpourri
vases at Waddesdon Manor, around
opened in 1834, and the questionable career of Edmé Samson began in the
1761
same decade.[23]

Sèvres turned to a more diluted version of Japonisme after 1870, and in 1897, a
new artistic director, A. Sandier, introduced new Art Nouveau styles, followed about a decade later by styles leading to Art
Deco.[24]

The display of Sèvres porcelain in the English Country House is another by-product of the 19th century and flourishes
especially within what is known as 'Rothschildshire' (the county of Buckinghamshire). The family's history of collecting
and its development of the distinctive ‘goût Rothschild’ (Rothschild style) results in some of the most iconic Sèvres being
located at Waddesdon Manor, Baron de Rothschild's weekend 'pleasure house'. As Mark Girouard writes, "opulence was
the key-note of this"[25] and thus "eighteenth-century French furniture, porcelain and bronzes of superb quality
combined"[25] dominated this specific 19th-century collection. Ferdinand's first purchase of Sèvres is a poignant narrative
at Waddesdon manor, in which at 21 years old, he treated himself to the famous turquoise Sèvres 'boat shaped' potpourri
vase "which he bought in instalments and is still at Waddesdon"[25].

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Sèvres cup, 1837, imitating Plate designed by Félix Bracquemond

Renaissance metalwork and Limoges for Haviland & Co., 1870s
enamel

Vase by Ernest Chaplet, c. 1890 Sèvres figure in biscuit, for the Paris
Exposition Universelle (1900)

Sèvres swan vase, for the Paris

Exposition Universelle (1900)

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See also
Orientalism in early modern France

Notes
1. Battie, 107
2. Credit being unavailable or unmanageable in the East, "in the end, the Europeans had to have recourse to precious
metals, particularly American silver, which was the 'open sesame' of these trades", observes Fernand Braudel, The
Perspective of the World (Civization & Capitalism, vol. III) :217; cf. section 'Gold and silver: strength or weakness?' p.
490ff.
3. Chinese glazes: their origins, chemistry, and recreation Nigel Wood p. 240 (https://books.google.com/books?id=NGw
8DUuNywYC&pg=PA240)
4. The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art Gerald W. R. Ward p. 38 (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=mkJfbdTS--UC&pg=PA38)
5. Artificial Soft Paste Porcelain – France, Italy, Spain and England Edwin Atlee Barber pp. 5–6 (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=AQH3op9kyvcC&pg=PP12)
6. Hydrocolloid applications: gum technology in the food and other industries A. Nussinovitch p. 193 (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=vhw-EQVViHMC&pg=PA193)
7. Porcelain Edward Dillon p.239 (https://books.google.com/books?id=2ztZyIvbxvcC&pg=PA239)
8. M. L. Solon, "The Rouen Porcelain", The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, 7 No. 26 (May 1905:116–124) p.
118.
9. Lister, Relation of a Journey to Paris, London, 1698, noted in Solon 1905:116.
10. Faïences et porcelaines du XVIème au XIXème siècle (http://www.cyrillefroissart.com/fr/fiche.php3?id_article=1838)
11. Baghdiantz McCabe, Ina (2008) Orientalism in Early Modern France, ISBN 978-1-84520-374-0, Berg Publishing,
Oxford, p. 220ff
12. Ceramic technology by Rose Kerr, Nigel Wood, Joseph Needham p.37 (https://books.google.com/books?id=mabcHw
mAD5oC&pg=PA37)
13. A history of pottery and porcelain: mediæval and modern by Joseph Marryat p. 190 (https://books.google.com/books?
id=QrRCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA190)
14. The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts Gordon Campbell p. 223 (https://books.google.com/books?id=jGsVHV098
K0C&pg=PA223)
15. 18th-Century English Porcelain by George Savage, p. 92 (https://books.google.com/books?id=3itNPs2omK0C&pg=P
A92)
16. Battie, 108
17. Battie, 108–109
18. Battie, 108–109
19. Battie, 109
20. Battie, 156–157
21. Battie, 155
22. Battie, 156
23. Battie, 156–157
24. Battie, 156
25. 1931-, Girouard, Mark, (1998). A hundred years at Waddesdon (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/695587648).
Buckinghamshire, U.K.: Rothschild Waddesdon. ISBN 0952780925. OCLC 695587648 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/695587648).

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References
Battie, David, ed., Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain, 1990, Conran Octopus. ISBN 1850292515
McAbe, Baghdiantz Ina, Orientalism in Early Modern France, 2008, Berg Publishing, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84520-374-
0

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