The manufacture de Nast was a prominent

hard-paste porcelain Hard-paste porcelain, sometimes "true porcelain", is a ceramic material that was originally made from a compound of the feldspathic rock petuntse and kaolin fired at very high temperature, usually around 1400 °C. It was first made in China a ...

factory founded in Paris in 1783 by Jean Népomucène Hermann Nast, an Austrian born French citizen. Nast porcelain was produced until 1835, and was one of a number of factories making very high-quality porcelain in Paris in this period, such as Dihl and Guérhard. This contrasted with London, where the factories had all closed or removed north by 1775, although the capital remained, like Paris, a centre for decorating plain "blanks" made elsewhere - in France often in

Limoges porcelain Limoges porcelain is hard-paste porcelain produced by factories in and around the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 18th century, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer. By about 1830, Limoges, which was close to the areas wh ...

History

After working at a porcelain manufacturer in Versailles, Nast opened his own small factory in Paris in 1783. Following its successes through sales to the government of the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...

and the court of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

the firm needed increased production and Nast with his two sons opened a large factory located on the rue du Chemin-Vert in the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...

in 1806. At the rue du Chemin Vert location Nast employed new techniques for the application of gold porcelain in high bas-relief. Nast patented this process in 1810. The manufacture de Nast was also in the forefront of developing new highly pigmented color glazes. Working with French chemist

Louis Vauquelin Prof. Louis Nicolas Vauquelin FRS(For) HFRSE (16 May 1763 – 14 November 1829) was a French pharmacist and chemist. He was the discoverer of both chromium and beryllium. Early life Vauquelin was born at Saint-André-d'Hébertot in Normandy, F ...

, the first to isolate the element

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

in 1797 created an intense malachite green glaze called

viridian Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of green, followed by blue. Specifically, it is a shade of spring green, which places the color b ...

that was able to remain stable at very high temperatures. The firm's products were sold to the French upper class and to several courts of Europe, as well as one of the earliest state china services, used by President James Madison in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in or about 1814 (purchased privately on Madison's behalf in 1806 when he was Secretary of State, and used by him as President after the burning of the mansion and its contents by the British in the War of 1812). Following the death of Nast in 1817, the factory continued under the leadership of his sons. Visiting an exhibit of the firm's wares at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

during the

Paris Exposition of 1819 Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

(also called the Restoration Exposition),

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

gave Nast's sons praise - "I observe with great pleasure the talent passed from father to son, I urge you to cultivate this." Nast's two sons continued management of the manufacture de Nast until its sale in 1835. File:Cup And Saucer, 1790 (CH 18340291) (cropped).jpg, Cup And Saucer, 1790 File:James Madison serving dish 1809 (cropped).jpg, James Madison serving dish 1809 File:Nast, tazzina, 1810-1815, 01.JPG, Cup And Saucer, 1810-1815

References

* Costaz, L. ''Rapport du Jury Central sur les Produits de l'Exposition Française.'' Paris, 1819. * C***, Mr. le Comte de. ''Quelques réflexcions sur l’industries en général à l’occasion de l’exposition des produits de l’industrie française en 1819.'' Paris, 1819. * Héricart de Thury, L. ''Rapport du jury d’admission des produits de l’industrie du dépertement de la Seine, à l’exposition du Louvre.'' Paris, 1819. * Klapthor, Margaret Bown. ''White House China: 1789 to the Present.'' The Barra Foundation and Harry N. Abrams: 1999. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Nast, Manufacture de Ceramics manufacturers of France Porcelain of France Manufacturing companies based in Paris