Sèvres porcelain

Sèvres porcelain

Sèvres soft-paste porcelain jardiniere decorated with flowers and cupids painted in reserves …

(credit: Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; photograph, Wilfrid Walter—EB Inc.)

French hard-paste, or true, porcelain, as well as soft-paste porcelain, made at the royal (now national) factory of Sèvres from 1756 until the present. After the decline of Meissen porcelain after 1756, Sèvres became the leading porcelain factory in Europe, thanks in large part to the patronage of Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Pompadour, who involved the foremost artists of the day (e.g., François Boucher and Étienne-Maurice Falconet) in the enterprise. Sèvres porcelain is famous for many styles and techniques, including white figures representing cupids, shepherdesses, or nymphs and the embellishment of grounds with minute patterns in gold.