The Porcelain Manufactory at Sevres, 1800-47 : Alexandre Brongniart and the Triumph of Art and Innovation

The tumultuous years of the French Revolution left France's prestigious decorative arts industries poised on the brink of ruin. It was not until after the fall of the monarchy and the ascendancy of the Consular and Empire under Napoleon that they began to recover so that by the middle of the nineteenth century they stood at the pinnacle of their achievement. This book is the first in-depth study of the renowned porcelain works at Sevres during its virtual rebirth under the 47-year direction of the scientist, teacher, and administrator Alexandre Brongniart.

Some 110 working drawings from the Sevres Archive are reproduced here for the first time in color. They celebrate the high skill of the artists whose work often documented contemporary events in France. There are table services in the "Egyptian" and "Etruscan" taste as well as individual pieces that recall Napoleonic military campaigns. There are also exquisite Neoclassical decorations using motifs such as birds, butterflies, and insects that reflect the century's early fascination with the natural sciences. The repertoire of nineteenth-century eclecticism is evident in the output of Sevres from the revival of Gothic and renaissance motifs to the outburst of naturalism. Eleven essays by leading authorities assess this dynamic period.

This book is the catalogue for an exhibit at the Bard Graduate Center in New York city, which runs from mid-October 1997 to January 1998.