Impressively Large French “Sèvres Style” Porcelain Vase with Hand Painted Roses & Rich Gilt Bronze Mountings of Female Busts – 36 Inches Tall, Circa 1860

Large and impressive porcelain vase, made in France in the style of the historic and highly influential Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres.

Delicately hand painted floral bouquets in pastel tones of rouge, lemon yellow and cream  for the roses, pastel violet and greens with reflected light or pastel undertones in the background that completely surround the circumference of the whole porcelain body. Simply masterful hand painting with rich gilt handle mounts in the Neoclassical style that include beautiful “regal” gilt female busts in profile above scrolling foliate backs. The gilt octagonal base has smaller canted corners.

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. The palette of pink and gold, entirely European in character and the prominent use of gilding throughout reflects its wholly nineteenth-century character. This spectacular vase is an example of the character of the Sèvres style in the mid 1800s.

Dimensions: height 36″ x width 16.5″ x depth 11.8″