Saint Cloud soft porcelain vase with blue designs under glaze 1695-1700

Saint-Cloud porcelain was a type of

soft-paste porcelain Soft-paste porcelain (sometimes simply "soft paste", or "artificial porcelain") is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either the hig ...

produced in the French town of

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...

from the late 17th to the mid 18th century.

Foundation

In 1702,

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701), was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and his wife, Anne of Austria. His elder brother was the "Sun King", Louis XIV. Styled Duke of Anjou from bir ...

gave letters-patent to the family of Pierre Chicaneau, who were said to have been making porcelain as "perfect as the Chinese" since 1693. Chicaneau's factory was a pioneer in the manufacture of porcelain in Europe, where there had been many attempts to copy

Chinese porcelain Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from construc ...

. Saint-Cloud developed a

frit A frit is a ceramic composition that has been fused, quenched, and granulated. Frits form an important part of the batches used in compounding enamels and ceramic glazes; the purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic compo ...

("a mixture of a flux, sand and chalk") which was close, although not similar, to Asian porcelain.

Blue-and-white porcelain

The porcelain produced in Saint-Cloud was influenced by late

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

blue and white porcelain "Blue and white pottery" () covers a wide range of white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment, generally cobalt oxide. The decoration is commonly applied by hand, originally by brush painting, but nowadays by sten ...

and its motifs were based on Chinese originals. The typical

underglaze Underglaze is a method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Because the glaze subsequently covers it, such decoration is completely ...

blue painted Saint-Cloud porcelain, says W.B. Honey, "is one of the most distinct and attractive of porcelains, and not the least part of its charm lies in the quality of the material itself. It is rarely of a pure white, but the warm yellowish or ivory tone of the best wares of the period is sympathetic and by no means a shortcoming; and while actually very soft and glassy, it has a firm texture unlike any other. The glaze often shows a fine satin-like pitting of the surface that helps to distinguish it from the brilliant shiny glaze of

Mennecy porcelain Mennecy-Villeroy porcelain (or Mennecy porcelain) is a French soft-paste porcelain from the manufactory established under the patronage of Louis-François-Anne de Neufville, duc de Villeroy (1695–1766) and — from 1748 — housed in outbuildin ...

, which is otherwise similar. The heavy build of the pieces is also characteristic and is saved from clumsiness by a finer sense of mass, revealed in the subtly graduated thickness of wall and a delicate shaping of edges."W.B. Honey, ''European Ceramic Art'', London, Faber and Faber, 1952

Polychrome porcelain

Around 1722, Chicaneau's business passed through marriage to Henri Trou. After 1730, polychrome porcelain came to be produced, also in imitation of Chinese polychrome styles of porcelain, such as the ''"

Famille rose Famille rose (French for "pink family") is a type of Chinese porcelain introduced in the 18th century and defined by the presence of pink colour overglaze enamel. It is a Western classification for Qing dynasty porcelain known in Chinese by va ...

"'' types. The Japanese ''

Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called "enameled" ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan's Hizen province (today, Saga Prefecture) from the Edo period's mid-17th century onwards ...

'' style of

Arita porcelain is a broad term for Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island. It is also known as after the wider area of the province. This was the area where the great majori ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, known as "Fleurs indiennes" ("Flowers of the Indies") was also used as an inspiration. File:Saint Cloud soft porcelain cup 1700 1720.jpg, Saint-Cloud soft porcelain cup, 1700-1720. File:Saint Cloud soft porcelain seau 1720 1730.jpg, Saint-Cloud soft porcelain seau, 1720-1730. "Fleurs indiennes" ("Flowers of the Indies") in imitation of the ''

'' style of

. File:Saint Cloud soft porcelain water pot circa 1725 with silver mount 1726-1732.jpg, Saint-Cloud

soft porcelain Soft-paste porcelain (sometimes simply "soft paste", or "artificial porcelain") is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either the high ...

water pot, circa 1725, with silver mount (1726-1732). File:Saint Cloud soft paste porcelain flower holder Famille Rose 1730 1740.jpg, Saint-Cloud soft paste porcelain flower holder, ''"

Famille Rose Famille rose (French for "pink family") is a type of Chinese porcelain introduced in the 18th century and defined by the presence of pink colour overglaze enamel. It is a Western classification for Qing dynasty porcelain known in Chinese by va ...

"'', 1730-1740. File:Saint Cloud soft porcelain spitting bowl Famille verte 1730 1740.jpg, Saint-Cloud soft porcelain

spitting bowl Spitting is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth. The act is often done to get rid of unwanted or foul-tasting substances in the mouth, or to get rid of a large buildup of mucus. Spitting of small saliva dr ...

, ''"

Famille verte Famille jaune, noire, rose, verte are terms used in the West to classify Chinese porcelain of the Qing dynasty by the dominant colour of its enamel palette. These wares were initially grouped under the French names of ("green family"), and (pink ...

"'', 1730-1740.

Later designs

Saint-Cloud soft paste porcelain 1720 1740

In its later years, Saint-Cloud also produced various designs which were less Asian in character, especially with some white soft-paste porcelain wares. After 1752,

Vincennes porcelain The Vincennes porcelain manufactory was established in 1740 in the disused royal Château de Vincennes, in Vincennes, east of Paris, which was from the start the main market for its wares. History The entrepreneur in charge at first, Claude-Humbe ...

was handed a monopoly of polychrome decors, which reduced the scope of other manufactories to some degree.''The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts'' by Gordon Campbell, p.223
/ref> Production continued until 1766, when competition from the

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...

and

manufactories put Saint-Cloud out of business. File:Saint Cloud soft porcelain seau 18th century.jpg, Saint-Cloud soft-paste porcelain seau, 18th century. File:Saint Cloud porcelain teacup 18th century.jpg, Saint-Cloud soft-paste porcelain teacup, 18th century.

Foundation

Blue-and-white porcelain

Polychrome porcelain

Later designs

See also

References

Further reading