Elegant & Stately Pair of 19th Century French Sèvres Royal Blue Porcelain & Bronze Covered Urns – Hand Painted Romantic Vignettes – Circa 1860

Created in Paris, France circa 1860, each elegant vase sits on a square gilt bronze base with curved cut corners. These large elegant porcelain vases are each decorated with a hand painted medallion depicting neoclassical figures in uniquely (each vase has a different scene) hand painted romantic vignettes. The royal blue background borders with rich gold leaf accents and scrolling are signature Sèvres porcelains. Stately and colourful vessels, further embellished with a brass mount at the neck and an attached lid decorated with a bronze top finial.

Sèvres was the preeminent porcelain manufacturer in Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century and in the nineteenth century resists easy characterization, and its history during this period reflects many of the changes affecting French society in the years between 1800 and 1900.

Among the remarkable accomplishments was that King Louis XV had been an early royal supporter along with his mistress Madame Pompadour, who had the factory moved near her chateau and the king became its sole royal owner in 1759. However, due to the upheavals of the French Revolution, its financial position at the beginning of the nineteenth century was extremely precarious as it was no longer a royal enterprise. However, the appointment in 1800 of Alexandre Brongniart (1770–1847) as the administrator of the factory marked a profound shift in its fortunes.Under Brongniart, the factory sought to copy famous paintings with the specific intention of recording the “true” appearance of works increasingly perceived to be fragile. Works by a wide variety of artists were copied, but those by Raphael were especially popular. The eclecticism and historicism that characterized so much of the production during Brongniart’s tenure continued after his death in 1847.

The factory’s output reflected an ongoing desire for technical innovation as well as a wide embrace of diverse decorative styles that were employed simultaneously. These splendid tall decorative urns are in excellent condition making them an important pair of Sèvres history.

Dimensions: height 20″ x width 5″ x depth 5″