FEATURES ARCHIVE

The must have item for any 18th century French aristocrat was a vase made at the Royal porcelain manufactory. Originally founded at Vincennes in about 1740 the factory benefited from the support of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour and with a growing list of wealthy clientele, the factory relocated to Sèvres, west of Paris in 1756.

Marked with the distinctive interlaced 'L's to honour their most important patron, this flower vase from 1754 is applied with dolphin handles. This imaginative and sculptural form uses the dolphin as a visual reference to the symbol of the Dauphin, the French heir apparent, and is possibly an allusion to the birth of the Dauphin's second son in the same year. It is decorated by André-Vincent Viellard with camaïeu painting, a cool blue monochrome, with scenes of children in the style of François Boucher, the leading proponent of the rococo taste, making this a perfect marriage of form and design. Like much of the porcelain produced at Vincennes and Sèvres, these ornamental choices were made to compliment a wider decorative scheme in palatial surroundings.

The King's mistress and confidante, Madame de Pompadour, was an avid patron of the arts and was responsible for the development of the porcelain factories at Vincennes and Sèvres. So enamoured was she with both her royal lover and porcelain that she commissioned the house and gardens at the Château de Bellevue to be decked with scented flowers made from porcelain in honour of the King's visit.

Did you know? Louis XV acquired outright ownership of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1752 and passed a royal decree that no other porcelain factories be opened in France.