Manufacture nationale de Sèvres
The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres (pronounced [manyfaktyʁ nɑsjɔnal də sɛvʁ]) is one of the principal European porcelain factories.
One hundred thirty metres long and four storeys high, the building was erected between 1753 and 1756 by the architect Laurent Lindet on the site of a farm called "de la Guyarde."
Finally, the painters, gilders and makers of animals and figures worked in the loft Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis served as artistic director of the Vincennes porcelain manufactory and its successor at Sèvres from 1748 to his death in 1774.
The manufactory was bought by the King in 1759, although Madame de Pompadour was allowed effective free rein to oversee it.
In 1768, the Bordeaux chemist, Vilaris and his friend Jean-Baptiste Darnet discovered the first deposit of kaolin on French soil at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche to the south of Limoges.
"Up to this time, the manufacturies of France – Sèvres not excepted – have only produced glass porcelain, which only has some qualities of the real thing...".
[3] Vincennes had made a certain amount of painted plaques that were sold to furniture-makers to be inset in furniture, but at Sèvres these became a significant part of production.
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.
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.
At the Manufacture de Vincennes, in 1748, a "floristry" composed of twenty young girls was established under the direction of Madame Gravant.
The glaze, applied as enamel over the kaolin paste after firing is made mainly of Marcognac pegmatite, mixed with feldspath and quart.
The ceramicist Ambroise Milet was Director of the Paste Kilns and Chief of Manufacture at the manufactury before he left it in 1883 at the age of 53.
One firing requires 25 cubic metres of wood, which is burnt over 48 hours using a specialised technique in order to raise the temperature.
[13] Since becoming a public organisation, its mission, in accordance with its origins in 1740, is to produce ceramic works of art using artisanal techniques, including both reproductions of old models and contemporary creations.
It produces items both for state needs and commercial sale, and is charged with promoting technological and artistic research in ceramics.
Its work is concentrated on the upmarket pieces, maintaining a high quality of artisanry, while neglecting industrial scale mass production.
The creations of the manufacturer are displayed in only two galleries: one in Sèvres and the other in the heart of Paris, in the 1st arrondissement, between the Louvre and the Comédie-Française.
