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A fine pair of Empire Paris porcelain gold and blue lapis vases, each of baluster form with acanthus wrapped scrolled handles terminating in dolphins, a gilt everted mouth above the neck decorated with palmettes and rosettes, the body with rosettes and lotus motifs, the spreading circular foot on a square gilded base
Paris, date circa 1810
Height 37 cm. each.
Although these vases bare close comparison with examples made by the Sèvres Porcelain Factory, the evident lack of a mark makes it impossible to ascribe them to the latter. Rather they should be described under the collective term of ‘Paris Porcelain’ that included some thirty seven factories appearing in and around the capital during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Due to the number of different factories and often lack of markings it is generally impossible to distinguish the names of the different makers. However as we see here Paris porcelain is distinguished by its quality; at its best it could rival the quality of Sèvres and has enjoyed an increased interest among collectors and critics alike during the past decade or so.
The Sèvres Porcelain Factory became the property of the King in 1759. In order to protect its monopoly and profit a number of laws were passed to restrict the production of porcelain by other manufacturers. However the discovery in 1769 of kaolin, an essential component of hard paste porcelain was a contributing factor toward the relaxation of the laws protecting the Sèvres monopoly. Thus after about 1770 many new Paris factories began to produce hard paste porcelain wares; because of the success of Sèvres porcelain, the Paris manufacturers inevitably copied and adapted their designs. Furthermore administrators at Sèvres frequently complained that the new firms were not only imitating their colours and models but were luring their workers away with higher wages.
Until the Revolution the Sèvres factory was patronized by the King; likewise many of the newly emerging Paris factories were protected by members of the royal family or by other notable figures. These included a factory founded in 1771 by P-A Hannong at Faubourg Saint-Denis, which from 1779 was protected by the comte d’Artois; that at rue Thiroux founded c. 1775 under the protection of Marie-Antoinette, as well as a factory at rue de Bindy, founded 1780 under the patronage of the duc d’Angoulême. Others included a factory in the petite rue Saint-Gilles, founded 1785 under the protection of the duchesse d’Angoulême and another in rue Amelot founded 1784 under the protection of the duc d’Orléans from 1786. Factories that chiefly flourished during the Empire and subsequent periods included one founded by N. H. Nast (at rue Popincourt) another by the Darte Frères (at various addresses) as well as ones founded by Honoré and Dagoty (Petite rue Saint-Gilles) and by P. Neppel. Many of the latter were awarded important commissions during the Empire, for example Pierre Louis Dagoty was appointed supplier of porcelain to the Empress Joséphine. Important exhibitions during the Restauration period and reign of Louis-Philippe also accelerated the Paris porcelain manufacturers to fame. However increasing urban manufacturing costs during the first half of the nineteenth century resulted in many of them moving to the provinces so that by 1850 only seventeen porcelain makers remained within the city limits. With rising costs the trend continued so that with the collapse of the Second Empire in 1870 the production of Paris porcelain had virtually come to an end.
The present vases are of particular interest comparing in shape, complete with their dolphin handles, with another Paris pair decorated with maritime scenes derived from prints after paintings by Joseph Claude Vernet (1714-89). Sèvres also featured dolphin shaped handles on a number of their vases, not least on their ‘Percier’ Vase in the Musée National du Château de Fontainebleau (illustrated Léon de Groër, “Les Arts Décoratifs de 1790 à 1850”, 1985, p. 302, pl. 584).
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