Porcelaine et collectionnisme en France au XVIIIe siècle

Résumé En

Porcelain and collections in France during the eighteenth century (according to some auction catalogues). At the beginning of the eighteenth century, there were many different types of porcelain in France ; coming from the Far East or from the West, hard paste or soft paste, with « coloured decoration » or monochrome designs. The examination of a series of eighteenth-century auction catalogues shows that such porcelain objects were not only functional. Old pieces of porcelain, often with modern gilded bronze rims or handles, were not merely the necessary complement for any major decorative ensemble, but also collectable art objects in their own right. The collections include « celestial blue porcelain », « China porcelain », pieces from Saxony, from Sèvres and from other origins. During the second half of the century, blue decoration on a white background seems to have gone out of fashion, whilst the taste for Japanese porcelain reached its apogee in 1720.