Set of Six Sèvres Porcelain Cabinet Plates with Varying French Castle Scenes
View Similar Items
Set of Six Sèvres Porcelain Cabinet Plates with Varying French Castle Scenes
About the Item
- Creator:Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.6 in (1.5 cm)Diameter: 8.67 in (22 cm)
- Style:Other (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Porcelain,Other
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:19th Century
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU220739602761
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.
- A Set of Three 1840's Sevres Porcelain Cabinet PlatesBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Lambertville, NJThree Sevres Gilt Heightened Porcelain Cabinet Plates, Mid 19th Century. With scalloped edges, gilt heightened and cobalt border, each with female farmers to the center and signed 'C...Category
Antique 1840s Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Six Rococo Sèvres Style Porcelain PlatesBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in London, GBEach porcelain plate in this set of six features a navy-blue ground, distinctive to works produced in the style of Sèvres, and gilded rims with ornate patterns inscribed. The centre ...Category
Antique 19th Century French Rococo Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$15,329 / set - Pair of 19th Century Sevres Porcelain Cabinet Plates : Scenes GallantsLocated in Montreal, QCThis pair are painted with lovers in a romantic and rustic landscape. There are two Scenes Gallantes: dancing in one, resting by a fountain in the other,...Category
Antique 1840s French Louis XV Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Sèvres French Porcelain Hand Painted Teacup and Saucer with Bird Scenes, 1791By Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Bishop's Stortford, HertfordshireAn exceptional and rare Sèvres Porcelain cabinet teacup and saucer each hand painted with birds within a landscape in coloured enamels and set...Category
Antique 1790s French Louis XVI Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$4,407 / setFree Shipping - Sevres-Vincennes Vintage French Porcelain Coffee SetBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Prato, TuscanyWe kindly suggest you read the whole description, because with it we try to give you detailed technical and historical information to guarantee the authenticity of our objects. Elegant and particular coffee service in fine French porcelain...Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Oval Sevres Porcelain Plate with Gilt Bronze TrimBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Vilnius, LTOval decorative antique French Sevres porcelain plate. The royal blue border with four panels painted in flowers and beaded ormolu mount. The c...Category
Antique 19th Century French Porcelain
MaterialsBronze