Chantilly porcelain
Encyclopedia
Chantilly porcelain is French soft-paste porcelain
produced between 1730 and 1800 by the manufactory of Chantilly
in Oise
, France
.
by Louis Henri de Bourbon, prince de Condé, the prince of the blood exiled from Court who founded the factory. At this period, the capital investment required for establishing a porcelain manufactory was so extensive that a royal or aristocratic patron was essential; only in Britain was early porcelain manufacture capitalized by the merchant class. The elite wares of Chantilly were intended to compete with Saint-Cloud porcelain
, a pioneer among French soft-paste porcelain manufactures, and other small manufactures at Mennecy
, under the protection of the duc de Villeroy
, as well as with imported Meissen porcelain
and Chinese porcelain
s.
Unlike the "Saxon" porcelain produced at Meissen
, kaolin was not amongst the raw materials of the Chantilly body
" palette of soft iron red and blue-green, seen in the tea pot at left
Decorative vase
s and magot
s for the chimneypiece were produced, and useful wares included delicately modelled rococo
tea-pots and cream jugs, coffee-sets or cabarets complete with their trays, covered tureen
s, bourdaloues, plates and cups, down to porcelain flowers to incorporate in chandelier
s and knife-handles.
A patent granted to the factory in 1735 by Louis XV
specifically describes the right to make porcelain façon de Japon, "in imitation of the porcelain of Japan;" its reference to ten years' successful experiment on the part of Ciquaire Cirou
(ca.1700-1751 is the basis for dating the factory's origins to 1725, found in many sources.
At first the body of the ware was covered with an opaque tin-glaze like that used for faience
, providing a clean white ground for the sparse decors in enamel colors. Later a slightly yellowish clear lead glaze was employed.
The prince de Condé died in 1740, after which the factory was forced to support itself, and reduced its ambitions. The manager of the factory, until his death in 1751, remained Ciquaire Cirou; under his care Chantilly produced its most characteristic porcelains, which were so valued by collectors in the 19th century that many successful fakes were produced by makers such as Edme Samson, reproducing the famous underglaze factory mark
of a hunting horn.
, initiating the porcelain manufacture that would receive royal patronage at Sèvres
and absorb the French market for porcelain of the highest refinement; letters patent of 1752 granting a monopoly to Vincennes of polychrome decors further reduced Chantilly's scope.
, by Wedgwood cream ware
for table wares. Its manager, the Englishman Christopher Potter, bought it in the early stages of the French Revolution
(1792), but it closed shop in 1800.
Soft-paste porcelain
Soft-paste porcelain is a type of a ceramic material, sometimes referred to simply as "soft paste". The term is used to describe soft porcelains such as bone china, Seger porcelain, vitreous porcelain, new Sèvres porcelain, Parian porcelain and soft feldspathic porcelain, and is also used more...
produced between 1730 and 1800 by the manufactory of Chantilly
Chantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...
in Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Foundation
Outbuildings were purchased in March 1730 on the banks of the small river Nonette near the extensive park of his château de ChantillyChâteau de Chantilly
The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...
by Louis Henri de Bourbon, prince de Condé, the prince of the blood exiled from Court who founded the factory. At this period, the capital investment required for establishing a porcelain manufactory was so extensive that a royal or aristocratic patron was essential; only in Britain was early porcelain manufacture capitalized by the merchant class. The elite wares of Chantilly were intended to compete with Saint-Cloud porcelain
Saint-Cloud porcelain
Saint-Cloud porcelain was a type of soft-paste porcelain produced in the French town of Saint-Cloud from the late 17th to the mid 18th century.-Foundation:...
, a pioneer among French soft-paste porcelain manufactures, and other small manufactures at Mennecy
Mennecy
Mennecy is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Mennecy are known as Menneçois.-Twin towns:...
, under the protection of the duc de Villeroy
Neufville de Villeroy family
The Neufville de Villeroy family was a French noble family, the most notable member of which was François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi. It was descended from a finance minister to Louis XII.-Titles:...
, as well as with imported Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
and Chinese porcelain
Chinese porcelain
Chinese ceramic ware shows a continuous development since the pre-dynastic periods, and is one of the most significant forms of Chinese art. China is richly endowed with the raw materials needed for making ceramics. The first types of ceramics were made during the Palaeolithic era...
s.
Unlike the "Saxon" porcelain produced at Meissen
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
, kaolin was not amongst the raw materials of the Chantilly body
First period: Chinese and Japanese designs (1725-1751)
Condé was an avid collector of East Asian porcelains, both Chinese and Japanese, and his Chantilly manufactory's first decade of output showed the marked influence of Arita porcelain, particularly in the "KakiemonKakiemon
Kakiemon wares were produced at the factories of Arita, Saga Prefecture, Japan from the mid-17th century, with much in common with the Chinese "Famille Verte" style...
" palette of soft iron red and blue-green, seen in the tea pot at left
Decorative vase
Vase
The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
s and magot
Magot
Magot may refer to:*The Barbary Ape*A fanciful, often grotesque figurine in East Asian style rendered in a crouching positionAlso see maggot, the wormlike larva of flies....
s for the chimneypiece were produced, and useful wares included delicately modelled rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
tea-pots and cream jugs, coffee-sets or cabarets complete with their trays, covered tureen
Tureen
A tureen is a serving dish for foods such as soups or stews, often shaped as a broad, deep, oval vessel with fixed handles and a low domed cover with a knob or handle. Over the centuries, tureens have appeared in many different forms, some round, rectangular, or made into fanciful shapes such as...
s, bourdaloues, plates and cups, down to porcelain flowers to incorporate in chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
s and knife-handles.
A patent granted to the factory in 1735 by Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
specifically describes the right to make porcelain façon de Japon, "in imitation of the porcelain of Japan;" its reference to ten years' successful experiment on the part of Ciquaire Cirou
Ciquaire Cirou
Ciquaire Cirou was a French industrialist and porcelain manufacturer. He was originally a member of the Saint-Cloud manufactory, where he was a painter, specializing in soft-paste porcelain....
(ca.1700-1751 is the basis for dating the factory's origins to 1725, found in many sources.
At first the body of the ware was covered with an opaque tin-glaze like that used for faience
Faience
Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...
, providing a clean white ground for the sparse decors in enamel colors. Later a slightly yellowish clear lead glaze was employed.
The prince de Condé died in 1740, after which the factory was forced to support itself, and reduced its ambitions. The manager of the factory, until his death in 1751, remained Ciquaire Cirou; under his care Chantilly produced its most characteristic porcelains, which were so valued by collectors in the 19th century that many successful fakes were produced by makers such as Edme Samson, reproducing the famous underglaze factory mark
Factory mark
A factory mark is a symbolic marking afixed by manufacturers on their productions in order to authentify them. Numerous factory marks are known throughout the ages, and are essential in determining the provenance or dating of productions....
of a hunting horn.
Intermediate period (1751-1760)
Potters from Chantilly were induced to move to VincennesVincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
, initiating the porcelain manufacture that would receive royal patronage at Sèvres
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres
The manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...
and absorb the French market for porcelain of the highest refinement; letters patent of 1752 granting a monopoly to Vincennes of polychrome decors further reduced Chantilly's scope.
Late period (1760-1800)
The factory at Chantilly produced some wares in the Vincennes-Sèvres taste but, especially after its sale in 1781 by Dame Adam, was in rapid decline towards the end of the Ancien Régime, squeezed between the competition of Sèvres at the high end of the market, and, after the Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1788Eden Agreement
The Eden Treaty was a treaty signed between Great Britain and France in 1786, named after the British negotiator William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland . It effectively ended, for a brief time, the economic war between France and the British and set up a system to reduce tariffs on goods from either...
, by Wedgwood cream ware
Wedgwood
Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
for table wares. Its manager, the Englishman Christopher Potter, bought it in the early stages of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
(1792), but it closed shop in 1800.