Vincennes and Sèvres
The history of the celebrated manufactory at Sèvres must be traced back to that of St. Cloud, which was founded as early as 1695. Here Louis XIV. accorded his patronage and favour by granting exclusive privileges. In 1735 the secret of the manufacture was carried, by some of the workmen, to Chantilly, and for a time continued there by the brothers Dubois. They left in a few years, taking with them their secret, and settled at Vincennes, where a laboratory was granted them, but after three years they were dismissed.
In 1745, a sculptor, named Charles Adam, formed a company, and the scheme was approved of by the king, privileges being accorded them for thirty years, and a place granted for their works in the Château de Vincennes. In 1753 the privileges of Charles Adam were purchased by Eloy Brichard, and Louis XV. took a third share; hence the factory became a royal establishment. Madame de Pompadour considerably encouraged the ceramic art, and it arrived at the height of perfection. The buildings were found too small to meet the increasing demands for the beautiful productions, and in 1756 the works were removed to a large edifice at SÈVRES built expressly for the company.
A favourite decoration of Vincennes porcelain was flowers and birds, on a beautiful bleu de roi ground, and cupids painted in camaïeu of a single colour.
In 1760 the king became sole proprietor, and M. Boileau was appointed director.
In 1769, after Macquer had brought the making of hard paste to perfection, the manufacture was successfully established at Sèvres, and both descriptions of china continued to be made until 1804, when, Brongniart being director, soft paste was altogether discontinued, and declared to be “useless in art, of expensive manipulation, dangerous to the workmen, subject to great risk in the furnace, &c.”
The principal colours used in decorating the ground of the Sèvres vases were:—
1. The bleu céleste, or turquoise, invented in 1752 by Hellot.
2. The rich cobalt blue, called bleu de roi, of which there were two varieties, the darker being designated gros bleu.
3. The violet pensée, a beautiful violet from a mixture of manganese, one of the rarest decorations of the pâte tendre.
4. The rose Pompadour (called in England rose Du-Barry), a charming pink or rose colour invented in 1757 by Xhrouet of Sèvres.
5. The clear yellow or jonquille, a sort of canary colour.
6. The vert pré, or bright grass green.
7. The vert pomme, or apple green.
8. The rouge de fer, a brilliant red.
9. The œil de perdrix was at a later period a favourite ornament for the grounds of vases.
The forms are exceedingly varied, but names are assigned to each, either from the designers of the models or their special shapes or ornamentation; these may be found at length in Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain, 10th edition.
The beautiful pâte tendre ware of Sèvres was always much esteemed, and never could have been produced at a reasonable price even at the time it was made, the expense of decoration as well as the risk in firing being so great. It was manufactured for royal presents or occasionally sold by express permission at exorbitant prices, which bore a more approximate value to the present exorbitant prices than is generally supposed.