Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 17

Antique Bleu Celeste Sevres Porcelain Ormolu Table Lamp 19th Century

About the Item

This is a stunning large antique French Sevres hand-painted porcelain and ormolu mounted vase circa 1870 in date, later converted into a lamp. The ovoid porcelain body is painted with gilt-framed panels depicting finely painted cherubs at play on one side with a landscape on the other, on a bleu celeste ground. It is mounted on a square onyx and ormolu base and raised on ormolu paw feet. Add an elegant touch to any room in your home. Condition: In excellent condition with no chips, cracks or signs of repair, re-wired and pat tested please see photos for confirmation of condition. Dimensions in cm: Height 64 x Width 21.5 x Depth 17 Dimensions in inches: Height 2 feet, 1 inch x Width 8 inches x Depth 7 inches Sevres Porcelain traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738. French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumoured relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles. From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colours and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed. The Sevres Porcelain manufactory always seemed to be in dire financial straits despite the incredibly fine works it produced. In fact, the king's insistence that only the finest items be created may have contributed to the difficulties. Only a limited number of European nobility could afford the extravagant prices demanded for such works. King Louis XV and eventually his heir, the ill-fated Louis XVI, were obliged to invest heavily in the enterprise. Ultimately, the Sevres Porcelain Factory produced items under the name of "Royal" and thus the well-known Sevres mark was born. King Louis XV even mandated laws that severely restricted other porcelain production in France so as to retain a near monopoly for his Sevres Porcelain. The king even willingly became chief salesman for the finest of his products, hosting an annual New Year's Day showing for French nobility in his private quarters at Versailles. He eagerly circulated among potential buyers, pitching the merits of ownership and policing the occasional light-fingered guest. Sevres Porcelain may have indeed given the makers of Meissen and Dresden a run for their money by the end of the 18th Century but for the French Revolution. By 1800, the Sevres Porcelain Works were practically out of business due to the economic devastation of the new French Republic. About the time when Napoleon Bonaparte named himself Emperor of France (1804), a new director was named for the Sevres Porcelain Manufactory. Alexandre Brongniart, highly educated in many fields, resurrected Sevres Porcelain. Soft-paste porcelain was eliminated altogether thanks to the earlier discovery of kaolin near Limoges. For four decades until his death, Brongniart presided over monumental progress for Sevres Porcelain, catering not only to Napoleon himself, but at last to include the more financially profitable mid-priced market in the emerging middle class. Ormolu (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'. The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object. No true ormolu was produced in France after around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury. Therefore, other techniques were used instead but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing ormolu method for sheer beauty and richness of colour. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt (also known as vermeil). Our reference: A3071
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 25.2 in (64 cm)Width: 8.47 in (21.5 cm)Depth: 6.7 in (17 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    circa 1870
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: A30711stDibs: LU950632620072
More From This SellerView All
  • Antique Pair Sevres Bleu Celeste Porcelain & Ormolu Candelabra 19th C
    Located in London, GB
    A pair of late 19th century French porcelain and ormolu mounted three light candelabra, each with floral and leaf branches above cherubic central column, to floral painted porcelain ...
    Category

    Antique 1860s French Candelabras

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • Antique Bleu Royale Sèvres Porcelain Ormolu Table Lamp, 19th Century
    Located in London, GB
    This is a stunning large antique French Sèvres "Bleu Royale" hand painted porcelain and ormolu-mounted vase circa 1870 in date, later converted into a lamp. The ovoid porcelain bo...
    Category

    Antique 1870s French Porcelain

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • Antique Pair of French Ormolu Mounted Bleu Celeste Sèvres Vases, 19th Century
    Located in London, GB
    This is a beautiful antique pair of French Louis Revival Sèvres "Bleu Celeste" porcelain and ormolu mounted twin handled vases, circa 1880 in date. They are superbly decorated in ...
    Category

    Antique 1880s French Vases

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • Antique Pair of French Bleu Celeste Sèvres Vases Lamps, 19th Century
    Located in London, GB
    This is an exquisite large pair of French Sèvres Porcelain and ormolu mounted oil burning table lamps that have been skillfully converted to electricity ...
    Category

    Antique 1870s French Porcelain

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • Antique Pair French Bleu Celeste Sevres Urns 19th C
    Located in London, GB
    This is a beautiful antique pair of French Sevres style porcelain and ormolu mounted twin handled urns, in the Louis XV manner, Circa 1870 in date. The bleu celeste...
    Category

    Antique 1870s French Urns

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • Antique Cobalt Blue Sevres Porcelain Ormolu Table Lamp, 19th Century
    Located in London, GB
    This is a stunning large antique French Sevres cobalt blue hand painted porcelain and ormolu-mounted vase circa 1880 in date, later converted into a lamp. The vase shaped porcelai...
    Category

    Antique 1880s French Porcelain

    Materials

    Ormolu

You May Also Like
  • 19th Century Cobalt Blue Sèvres Style Porcelain / Ormolu Lamps
    Located in Tarry Town, NY
    Pair of French porcelain 19th century Louis XVI style cobalt blue Sèvres porcelain and ormolu vase shape mounted into lamps. Each lamp features an urn shape vase form with a narrow n...
    Category

    Antique 19th Century French Louis XVI Table Lamps

    Materials

    Bronze

  • Sevres style ormolu lamp, 19th Century.
    By Cristalleries De Sevres
    Located in Brighton, Sussex
    A very impressive late 19th century French Sevres style porcelain and gilded ormolu vase / lamp. Having classical putti mounted on each scrolling foliate handle, raised on Palm tree ...
    Category

    Antique Late 19th Century French Table Lamps

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • Sevres Porcelain Ormolu Mounted Pair of 19th Century Table Lamps, French
    By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
    Located in Miami, FL
    Pair of fine quality 19th Century Louis XVI style Sevres porcelain ormolu mounted table lamps. Traditional French porcelain. These beautiful h...
    Category

    Antique 19th Century French Louis XVI Table Lamps

    Materials

    Bronze

  • French Sèvres Porcelain Watteau Scene Ormolu Cobalt Blue Table Lamp 19th Century
    By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
    Located in Dublin, Ireland
    Stunning French Sèvres soft paste signed porcelain and ormolu twin handle electric table lamp of traditional bulbous form and of outstanding quality, and good size proportions, raise...
    Category

    Antique 19th Century French Late Victorian Table Lamps

    Materials

    Ormolu

  • 19th Century French Sevres Porcelain with Bronze Ormolu Mounted as a Table Lamp
    By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
    Located in Charlotte, NC
    An antique French Sevres style porcelain urn mounted as a table lamp, unbranded. Sevres porcelain urn of dark blue & gold with hand painted scene of lovers kissing & cherubs on front...
    Category

    Antique Late 19th Century French French Provincial Table Lamps

    Materials

    Ormolu, Bronze

  • Antique Blue Sevres Style Porcelain Table Lamp, France, 19th Century
    Located in London, GB
    A fine 19th century French blue Sevres style porcelain table lamp raised on a square ormolu base, hand painted and signed on the ovoid body.  
    Category

    Antique Late 19th Century French Table Lamps

    Materials

    Porcelain

Recently Viewed

View All