CHAPTER XIII.

THE PORCELAIN OF FRANCE--ST.-CLOUD, CHANTILLY, SÈVRES, ETC.

Hard and Soft Porcelain.--Discovery of Kaolin.--St.-Cloud.--_Pâte Tendre._--Marks.--Rouen.--Small Manufactories.--Marks of same.--Chantilly.--Sceaux-Penthièvre.--Niderviller.--Marks. --Limoges.--Sèvres.--Flower-Work.--Hard Porcelain, _Pâte Dure_. --The Grand Monarque.--Florid Taste.--Boucher.--Vieux Sèvres.--Three Vases.--Greek Vases.--Prices at Bernal Sale.--Chemists.--Colors used.--Collections.--Art Museums. --Alexandre Brongniart.--Marks and Dates.

The porcelain of Sèvres is probably better known than any other by name, if not by sight. The production has been steadily under the protection of the state since 1760, when the crown became sole owner of the works. Time, thought, skill, talent, ingenuity, and money, have been spent upon this work unceasingly for more than a century; and some of the most elaborate, most finished, and most costly pieces of porcelain which the world has anywhere seen, have come out of the small town of Sèvres.

Kings, nobles, poets, painters, have recognized the beauty and value of this work, and have given of their strength to help it onward toward perfection.

The history of the manufactory at Sèvres might fill a book: here we are limited to a brief space, which may suffice for most readers.

Some experts hold that _true_ porcelain is only what is known as hard porcelain, called _pâte dure_ by the French. Such is always the porcelain of China and Japan; such is that of Dresden and the centre of Europe.

This hard porcelain has always the two qualities of hardness and translucency. We have elsewhere explained to what these qualities are due, and how and when they were brought to perfection in Europe, first at Dresden or Meissen (see Dresden porcelain).

France lacked the peculiar clay necessary for making hard porcelain till the year 1765, when chance discovered the magic earth at St.-Yrieix; after which time its manufacture was brought to a high pitch of excellence at Sèvres.

The soft porcelain, or _pâte tendre_, can be made without the admixture of the clay called by the Chinese _kaolin_. It has the quality of translucency, but lacks hardness and strength. It melts at a lower heat, and, while very delicate and beautiful, it is not so enduring as the _pâte dure_. Experts can distinguish the two at sight; but there are some signs which will help the uninitiated. The soft porcelain is likely to be more creamy, and softer to the eye and touch, than the hard; the painting blends more into the glaze; the bottoms of the pieces or the rims are covered with the glaze; while, in the hard porcelain, these rims, from standing on the sanded floor of the furnaces, show no glaze. The painting on the hard porcelain is likely to be sharper, and more on the surface, than that on the soft, into which it seems to melt.

ST.-CLOUD.--Before the discovery of kaolin in Europe, as early as 1695, soft porcelain, or _pâte tendre_, was made at St.-Cloud in great variety and of considerable excellence; and the story of French porcelain, begun there, may be divided into two parts: 1. Soft porcelain, begun at St.-Cloud in 1695, continued there, and afterward at Chantilly; then at Vincennes, in 1745; still later at Sèvres, in 1756. The production of soft porcelain, or _pâte tendre_, continued at Sèvres, in company with that of the _pâte dure_, until 1804. 2. The hard porcelain, or _pâte dure_ of the French; which was made after the discovery of the kaolin of St.-Yrieix, at Sèvres.

Marks used at St.-Cloud:

The early porcelain made at St.-Cloud is said to have been quite coarse and unsatisfactory. Examples of it are very scarce. That made later was better, but a long way behind what was made afterward at Sèvres.

At ROUEN, in France, porcelain appears to have been made, but it never proceeded so far as to be a business.

At MENECY-VILLEROY, about 1735, soft paste was made; and later there were various limited efforts at Brancas-Lauraguais, at Arras, at Vincennes, at Boulogne, at Étoilles, at Bourg-la-Reine, at Clignancourt, at Orleans, at Luneville, at Bordeaux, at Valenciennes, at Limoges, at Sarreguemines, at Strasbourg; at Paris, a great number, some of the products of which are still in existence.

We give the marks of some of the most important.

Marks of Clignancourt:

Marks of Orleans:

Marks of Valenciennes:

Marks of Strasbourg:

Mark of Marseilles:

The PARIS marks are so manifold that the student must refer to some manual of marks, such as are mentioned in the list of books at the end of the volume.

Besides the smaller factories first mentioned, a few words may be well upon some factories whose productions are now and then offered for sale.

CHANTILLY.--As early as 1725 this factory produced a great variety of articles of soft paste, which were and are highly esteemed. A design used there--a small blue flower upon the white--called _Barbeau_, was much in fashion.

The workmen at Chantilly were afterward engaged at Vincennes. The mark is a hunting-horn, sometimes impressed, sometimes painted on.

SCEAUX (sometimes Sceaux-Penthièvre) was a small factory near Paris, begun in 1750, where, for some twenty or thirty years, very delicate soft-paste porcelain was made. The marks were sometimes the letters S X or S P, and the anchor.

At NIDERVILLER, near Strasbourg, in 1760, a factory was established by Baron de Beyerlé, which afterward (about 1780) went into the possession of General de Custine, whose head was cut off during the French Revolution. Both soft and hard porcelain were made here, and some of the biscuit figures are of great excellence.

The marks most known are these; but the letter _N_ in script is sometimes found on pieces of this work.

Marks of Niderviller:

At LIMOGES, in 1773, soft porcelain was made; later, hard paste was made. The old mark was =C. D.= At the present time a number of factories are busily at work there, among which is that of Haviland and Company, whose faience will be mentioned elsewhere.

SÈVRES.--We cannot to-day appreciate the enthusiasm which existed at this period (1750) in France, as well as in many other states of Europe, upon the subject of porcelain manufacture. Among royal and noble people it was peculiarly strong. The kings of France were always open to the projects of experts, who promised to produce wonderful results; and, in 1745, when the company was formed to produce porcelain at Vincennes, the king, Louis XV., contributed to the capital the sum of one hundred thousand livres.

Madame de Pompadour, at this period the most beautiful woman and the most influential personage in France, was an eager patron of the ceramic arts, and gave all her influence to promote their development; the queen, too, was greatly interested; we may be sure that all good courtiers followed their lead. About this time (1740 to 1750) a wonderful production of porcelain flowers was in vogue at Vincennes, and the most elaborate work was done there, so that two bouquets made for the king and dauphine cost them the great sum of three thousand livres (francs) each; which was a great deal more than three thousand francs is now. A single order given by the king amounted to the sum of eight hundred thousand livres. This attempt to _imitate_ flowers in colored porcelain we now consider foolish, as well as false art; and very properly it has passed away as one of the whimsies of the time. Some of these flowers, such as double ranunculuses, orange-flowers, anemones, etc., still remain, wonders of fictile work, in the Musée Céramique, at Sèvres.

But the porcelain-works at St.-Cloud and Vincennes, the _avant couriers_ of Sèvres, produced many other and more legitimate objects of use as well as art. The dinner and tea services made here were most elaborate and costly; one made for the Empress of Russia was decorated with paintings of antique cameos, and the cost was some three hundred and sixty thousand livres, a vast sum surely.

At certain seasons the courtiers were expected to purchase the work of the royal factory, and presents were sent hither and thither; so that for a time the manufactory not only enjoyed the favor of the king, but also the sunshine of the court.

In 1748 a superb vase was made and presented to the queen. It stood on a bronze pedestal, and was about three feet high. The marvelous part of it was the great bouquet it contained, which consisted of four hundred and eighty porcelain flowers exquisitely modeled and colored after Nature.

The mark used at Vincennes will be given with those of Sèvres.

In 1756 the porcelain-works of Vincennes were removed to Sèvres, and from that period everything possible was concentrated there; and in 1759 or 1760 the whole came under the control and direction of the king. We see, therefore, how out of the efforts at St.-Cloud and Chantilly and Vincennes the works at Sèvres at last grew up. All was now combined at Sèvres.

The production of hard porcelain at this period had become a matter of importance; for it was well known that at Dresden most finished work of this kind had for a long time been made. Soft porcelain, though equally or more beautiful, was difficult to make, was then expensive, and lacked the strength and durability of the hard. Hard porcelain or _pâte dure_, was the one thing desired. But this could not be made without the peculiar clay called kaolin, which the Saxons had, but which they would not allow the French to get. This was not obtained, as has been said, till 1765, and from that time Sèvres entered upon a period of production which has had no equal in Europe.

The buildings were ample, the gardens were pleasant, and the interest in the production of the royal works may be appreciated from the fact that the king, accompanied by Madame de Pompadour, made weekly visits, to see that all went well. And all did go will. No money was wanting; artists of the highest rank were enlisted; skilled men of every kind contributed their knowledge and keenness to bring the delicate work to perfection.

Madame de Pompadour, herself an artist in her way, not only came weekly to enjoy the work of others, but she often applied her own hands to making designs, or to touching or perfecting what fine thing might be going forward. Under such stimulus as this it was inevitable that every modeler, every artist, every colorist, should be inspired to do his best. They were patronized by royal hands which disposed of all the glory and wealth of France.

Painters having a wonderful technical skill were eagerly engaged, and much of the work done has the merit--not the highest one, certainly--of being most delicately and elaborately penciled. No work of this kind ever has surpassed what was done on the vases, teacups, écuelles, etc., made at Sèvres. The variety of decoration upon these elaborate pieces was great, comprising among others, birds, flowers in wreaths and garlands, and bouquets, landscapes, figures, arabesques, Cupids, emblems, cameos, masks, miniatures, Watteau pictures, children, pastoral subjects, Chinese and Japanese imitations, butterflies, medallions, sea-pieces, insects, etc.: the whole of Nature and art was ransacked for interesting and attractive material.

Almost or quite all of this may be characterized as most clever imitation, exquisitely painted. Even the artists who were inspired by love of Oriental work seem to have imitated or copied that; they did not learn by it how to express Occidental life and growth, in their own individual way, and with that piquant fresh touch which marks so much of the best Oriental work. Nevertheless, it is exquisite, and conveys a sense of satisfaction and completeness because of that, even to those who do not approve of it as the best decorative art.

It is safe to say that the Grand Monarque, Louis XIV., was the greatest affliction which the kingdom of France was ever called upon to endure. His reign was unfortunately long--1643 to 1715. It was marked by a false splendor of success, by luxury such as the world had not seen since the days of the decline and fall of Rome, by the most venal public service except that which his successor permitted, by the most unblushing corruption in private life, among men and women both; and by a general degradation of all the standards of frugality, sincerity, honor, and nobleness, in public and in private life. Was it possible for art to escape this contamination? Impossible!

The florid and foolish taste of the perruquier prevails everywhere, in architecture, in painting, in sculpture, in dress; all is tainted with the showy and the shallow. The flowing scroll appears in all its splendor, decoration is piled in meaningless profusion, and talent and taste, heart, mind, hand, and gold, are lavished in folly and vice, which finally culminated in the social and political Revolution of Louis XVI., when king and noble, lord and lady, went under in a sanguinary flood of anarchy and ruin.

Could the taste and the art which prevailed at Sèvres escape this? It could not, and it did not.

While, therefore, we cannot but admire the care, the pains, the skill, of the workmen and the artists, let us not be misled by the false glamour of that time, so as to learn to love or to imitate their florid and extravagant tastes in architecture, in furniture, in dress, or in porcelain.

Chaffers, in his work upon "Pottery and Porcelain," gives the private marks of some one hundred and twenty-six painters, who were employed at Sèvres before 1800, and quite a number who have painted there since. Among these are some who reached a European reputation: of these _Boucher_ is perhaps most famous; his medallions are sought for, and highly valued.

A distinction is sometimes made between old Sèvres and modern Sèvres. The old--_vieux Sèvres_--comes down to the year 1800; after that it is designated as modern, for convenience. It does not intend to exalt one and condemn the other, as too many now are apt to think, the truth being that equally good work has been done since that time as before it.

Indeed, within this year I have seen some pieces of Sèvres painting, such as I fancy have never been done there before, and which can hardly be excelled; in which the artist ceases to be a copyist, abandons himself to the imagination, and produces work which gratifies the highest faculty. Somebody, then, has broken away from traditions and academic rules.

Not only were the early painters ranked as artists, but designers and modelers of vases and other pieces had high rank and high pay, so much so that their names were and are attached to their productions; as, for example, vase Clodion, vase Duplessis, vase Falconnet, etc. I may say here that elaborate and beautiful as many of them certainly are, the Sèvres vases, inspired as they too often are by that expression of art so acceptable to Louis XIV. and XV., are so decorated, scrolled, and worked, that they create a sense of surfeit in many minds.

In Figs. 133, 134, and 135, we have three excellent examples of this work which may really be called _magnificent_. They have all the qualities which characterize the elaborate work of Sèvres. The size and elaborateness of these force them into the collections of emperors and kings, and here and there into the fine museums of the world, where they are to be seen of all men.

Fig. 133 is a superb covered vase, enameled most elaborately and exquisitely, in the best of what may be termed a Renaissance decoration, which had its birth in Italy. The masks and floating figures suggest a delicate reminiscence of Pompeii and the luxury and decadence of those Greek Romans, which there reached a full development, and which remain to us when all of Rome is in ruin, preserved by the ashes of Vesuvius through these nineteen centuries.

The vase, Fig. 134, is the largest of all, reaching some forty inches in height.

Fig. 135 shows us a superb vase, called "_Cuve ovale Ducereau_." In this vase the artist has closely approximated to the _form_ of some of the old Greek vases, but the decoration is more striking and elaborate.

A perception of this excessive ornamentation came to somebody about the year 1785, for in that year Louis XVI. bought from M. Denon a collection of Greek vases, "to serve as models of pure and simple forms, and thus change the exaggerated, exuberant contours given to porcelain in the preceding reign."

The wonderful virtue of simplicity which the Greeks at their best fully valued, seems to have fled from France during the times of Louis XIV. and XV. This, in a degree, was restored by the purer and better tastes of the time of Louis XVI., when there was a reaction toward the classic in both literature and art.

In Fig. 136 we have engraved a vase of the time of Louis XVI., which indicates the improvements made at that time, both in form and decoration. It approaches the classic forms of Greece, and is a step away from that excessive and meretricious decoration which marked the times of Louis XIV. and XV. It was sold at the Bernal sale, and is thus described: "A magnificent centre vase and cover, _gros bleu_, with upright handles of foliage, a festoon of leaves, raised gilt, encircling the vase and falling over the handles, the lower part fluted with pendant lines of leaves; in the centre is a most exquisite painting of a peasant and two girls gathering cherries, a donkey with panniers filled with cherries at their side, a group of flowers on the reverse--on square plinth, eighteen inches high. Sold to the Marquis of Hertford for eight hundred and seventy-one pounds ten shillings sterling (four thousand three hundred and fifty-five dollars).

I have spoken of the many styles of painting applied at Sèvres, and also of the great carefulness and elaborateness of the modeling. Another skilled body of men was called upon to contribute toward the perfection at which they all aimed; these were the _chemists_. To devise, to combine, and to adapt many and more and more beautiful colors than any in use, which could be applied to porcelain and would stand supreme heat, required the aid of science. This the chemists gave; and the result has been such rich, such subtile, such brilliant colors as no other manufactory has reached. Some of these colors have become well and widely known under the following names:

_Bleu de roi_, made from cobalt; a deep lapis lazuli, sometimes veined and sown with gold. _Gros bleu_, a deeper color of the same.

_Bleu céleste_, a turquoise blue, from copper.

_Rose Pompadour_, improperly called _Rose du Barri_ in England.

_Violet pensée_, a rare and beautiful violet.

_Jonquille_, a rich canary.

_Vert pomme_, a delicious apple-green.

_Vert pré_, a bright grass-green.

_Rouge de fer_, a brilliant red.

These are among the most famous colors used to cover the ground or body of the finest vases, the reserved spaces being filled with the rarest paintings. In addition to these perfect colors, gilding of the heaviest kind was used--often too freely. To glorify the work still more, what are termed _jewels_ were applied in rows, or singly, of many colors; but pearls and rubies were most in use.

The _rose Pompadour_, or _rose du Barri_, has, within the last twenty years, become most in vogue, so that at the Bernal sale, in 1856, a pair of vases of this color, painted with groups of Cupids in medallions, was purchased by the Marquis of Bath at eighteen hundred and fifty guineas. An English collector, of moderate views, told me he proposed to purchase a pair of vases of this color, some twelve inches high, at a sale at Christie's, some five years since, if he could do so for, say, one hundred pounds sterling. The first bid was one thousand pounds, and they were knocked down at sixteen hundred and fifty guineas.

The variety and splendor of these _vases de luxe_ are great. They are to be seen in most of the collections of Europe, and, to some extent, in America; but their great cost, and the fact that they are so rarely offered for sale here, make them quite uncommon in the United States.

Visitors to Europe should see those in the Kensington Museum, and in private galleries; such as that of M. Rothschild, whose collection is worth _millions_.

It is a singular thing that during that fearful tempest known as the French Revolution, when almost everything which had a suspicion of royalty or luxury was swept away, the works at Sèvres were not destroyed, but were carefully guarded and supported by the republican Directory.

Besides these "articles of luxury," the Sèvres works have always made a large number of services for household use, which, however, must always be costly. Some of these are in this country; also a good many single pieces, particularly from the collections of Louis Philippe, which were large, and which were scattered at the time of the Revolution of 1848. Quite a goodly number were in the sale of Mr. Lyons's collection, in 1876.

Some of these dinner-services were of course very elaborate and some intended for royal houses were finished in the rich and heavy colors, such as the _bleu de roi_, which for myself I would never desire; but most of them were decorated with edges of very rich gold, and bands or bouquets of flowers painted on the white.

In Fig. 137 we present some pieces from a handsome service belonging to W. C. Prime, Esq., of New York. The forms as well as the decoration are perfect; the dark bands are a rich yellow, and the edges are finished with heavy gold leafage and lines. This is a large and complete set.

The single plate shown in the picture, containing the portrait of Montaigne, of course does not belong to the service. It is an admirable piece of the miniature work done at Sèvres, and must find its place as a picture does on the walls of the house. Plates, however, as valuable as this should have the protection of a frame.

Fig. 138 is from a part of a tea or breakfast service belonging to the collection of George W. Wales, Esq., of Boston. It is clear and brilliant, being wholly of white and gold, and is really surprisingly attractive, partly from its simplicity, and more from its perfectness.

Some of the finest pieces of Sèvres porcelain in our country are to be found in the collections I have already mentioned. There are also fine examples in possession of Mr. Barlow, Mr. Belmont, and Mr. Matthews, of New York; of Dr. Mitchell, and other connoisseurs, at Philadelphia. Mr. J. V. L. Pruyn, of Albany, has one large and beautiful dinner-service of the white and gold Sèvres, and one made for Louis Philippe, having bands in colors. In his collection are two plates jeweled--one bearing the portrait of the Princess Lamballe, painted by Le Guay; and the other, that of Gabrielle d'Estrées--which are of the highest class.

The knowledge of and love for good examples of fine porcelain are on the increase, and no doubt in a few years we shall be able to see and enjoy fine work, without the disagreeable experience of crossing the implacable ocean.

Our art-museums will also give to thousands the opportunity of seeing and studying these things which no private collections can so well do.

The name of ALEXANDRE BRONGNIART (Fig. 139) is now identified with the best period of Sèvres porcelain, and its high reputation and great success are due more to him than to any one man. Not only did he aim for excellence himself, he also insisted that others should do likewise. He gave tone and character to what was done there. Nothing having any flaw or blemish was allowed to go from the works; and in that way the standard was kept high in the minds of artists and workmen as well as in those of amateurs. Prices, too, were kept at such a point that more and more could be attempted and accomplished. To Brongniart is due the _Musée Céramique_ at Sèvres. In this museum are examples of all or nearly all the famous work ever done there, as well as a great number of examples of both porcelain and faience made elsewhere. This museum is still receiving constant additions.

Before his appointment Brongniart was ranked as a _savant_ in other branches. He was known among the most eminent of geologists, and in conjunction with Cuvier he made a careful examination of the geology of the neighborhood of Paris, and wrote upon it a learned essay. He was also a student of chemistry, and this knowledge was most valuable after he became director at Sèvres. For some fifty years after 1800 he held that post, and during the time he gave his soul to the work he had in hand; he encouraged the mature and he brought forward the young. His work "Traité des Arts Céramiques" is most valuable, and is looked upon as an authority to-day.

Since his day the works have been in careful and competent hands, and admirable porcelain is still produced in many styles.

MARKS.--The Vincennes mark used from 1745 to 1753 was the interlaced L's without any inclosed letter, like the first mark of Sèvres.

Beginning at 1753 the Sèvres mark was the interlaced L's inclosing the letter A. The marks at Sèvres changed many times, so that it is necessary to give quite a list of them as well as a table showing how the letters of the alphabet indicate the year when the piece was made.

The following table will help to explain the use of the letters of the alphabet when placed in the interlaced L's:

A 1753 B 1754 C 1755 D 1756 E 1757 F 1758 G 1759 H 1760 I 1761 J 1762 K 1763 L 1764 M 1765 N 1766 O 1767 P 1768 Q 1769 R 1770 S 1771 T 1772 U 1773 V 1774 X 1775 Y 1776 Z 1777 AA 1778 BB 1779 CC 1780 DD 1781 EE 1782 FF 1783 GG 1784 HH 1785 II 1786 JJ 1787 KK 1788 LL 1789 MM 1790 NN 1791 OO 1792 PP 1793 QQ 1794 RR 1795 T9* 1801 X* 1802 11* 1803 --\\-- 1804 /|\ 1805 ==:== 1806 7 1807 8 1808 9 1809 10 1810 o.z. (onze) 1811 d.z. (douze) 1812 t.z. (treize) 1813 q.z. (quatorze) 1814 q.n. (quinze) 1815 s.z. (seize) 1816 d.-s. (dix-sept) 1817 18 1818 19 1819 Etc., etc.

Marks used at Sèvres: