Sèvres Style Urn Depicting Napoleon I Meeting with the Countess of Bonchamps
View Similar Items
Sèvres Style Urn Depicting Napoleon I Meeting with the Countess of Bonchamps
About the Item
- Creator:Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)Diameter: 12.6 in (32 cm)
- Style:Napoleon III (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1863
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: EUR002451stDibs: LU220735637893
Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
A maker of exemplary European ceramics for hundreds of years, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres has produced porcelain of the highest quality since 1740.
The factory enjoyed royal patronage from its earliest days, and its most prominent patrons in the late 1700s — King Louis XV of France and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour — commissioned some of the period’s most elegant and striking pieces (only the truly wealthy could afford porcelain at this time). The company was originally established in Vincennes but was moved at the request of Madame de Pompadour, in 1756, to Sèvres, near Versailles, so that its operations would be closer to her château.
Sèvres became a mighty and much-revered factory working under a special grant from King Louis XV — the company’s owner as of 1759 and whose abundance of orders for special state gifts put financial strain on the company. Madame de Pompadour is said to have commissioned Sèvres to create an entire indoor garden of porcelain botanicals, for example.
While Sèvres gained a sterling reputation for its soft-paste porcelain wares, the company was late in entering into the production of hard-paste porcelain.
Hard-paste porcelain is the most common type of Chinese porcelain, then a widely exported and profitable product that was not made in Europe until the 18th century. The resources at Sèvres were largely relegated to meeting the demands of Louis XV, and secondly, it did not acquire the secret formula for hard-paste porcelain until 1761. Until it obtained the coveted secrets behind hard-paste porcelain from a chemist named Pierre-Antoine Hannong — and, years later, gained access to the elusive raw materials to make hard-paste porcelain — Sèvres produced soft-paste porcelain for decades that was widely celebrated but is comparatively a far weaker type as opposed to the hard-paste productions of the company’s rival, Meissen, in Saxony, the first to produce true porcelain outside of Asia.
The artisans at Sèvres applied the rarest and most difficult-to-produce colors to their decorative objects and dinner services. One such color, the bright bleu de roi, became the manufacturer’s signature shade and is found on many of their objects. Sèvres also experimented with rarely glazed or unglazed works that bore no decoration at all — bisque porcelain, French for “biscuit,” refers to unadorned white porcelain sculptures made at Sèvres that resemble white marble after being kiln-fired.
Sèvres marks were applied over the glaze or rendered with cuts by a sharp tool — authentic Sèvres porcelain is most commonly marked with two interlaced Ls that are painted in blue and enclose a third letter. Painters and potters were tasked with affixing marks to record their role in the creation of a particular piece, and as a lot of these artisans’ names are recorded in archival factory materials — and there is also much to be learned at the Sèvres museum — it’s likely that you can accurately identify your Sèvres piece.
Find antique and vintage Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres vases, urns, sculptures and more on 1stDibs.
- French 19th Century Napoleon III Sévres Style Porcelain and Ormolu Mounted UrnBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Los Angeles, CAA very fine French 19th Century Napoleon III Sévres Style Porcelain and Ormolu Mounted Covered Urn, the 360 degree painted urn centered with an 18th century scene of a young Princess...Category
Antique 19th Century French Louis XV Porcelain
MaterialsOrmolu
$9,850 Sale Price47% Off - Fine French 19th Century Napoleon III Sèvres Style Porcelain Urn Signed Ch FuchsBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Los Angeles, CAA fine French 19th century Napoleon III Sèvres style porcelain and ormolu-mounted covered urn, the 360 degree painted urn centered with an 18th century romantic scene of two ladies a...Category
Antique 19th Century French Louis XV Porcelain
MaterialsOrmolu
$8,450 Sale Price43% Off - Napoleon III Amphora Shaped Porcelain Sèvre Vase with Bronze PartsBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Weiningen, CHNapoleon III Amphora shaped porcelain in the style of Sèvre vase with bronze parts.Category
Antique 1870s French Napoleon III Porcelain
MaterialsGold Plate, Bronze
- Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Sèvres Style Napoleon Vase and PedestalBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in New York, NYA rare and special late 19th century gilt bronze mounted Sèvres style Napoleon vase with matching pedestal The vase pictured with the Coronation of the Empress Josephine by Napole...Category
Antique Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Vases
MaterialsOnyx, Bronze
- Pair of Sèvres Style Jardinières, circa 1860By Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Firenze, ITSHIPPING POLICY: No additional costs will be added to this order. Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included). Each circular bowl with putti jard...Category
Antique Mid-19th Century French Victorian Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Pair of Large Gilt-Bronze Mounted Sèvres-style Porcelain Vases with PedestalsBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in London, GBPair of large gilt-bronze mounted Sèvres-style porcelain vases with pedestals French, Early 20th century Measures: Vases: height 141cm, width 60cm, depth 44cm Stands: height 66cm,...Category
Early 20th Century French Neoclassical Vases
MaterialsOrmolu