Vasomania in early Vincennes-Sèvres: style, color and shape. From Rococo to Neoclassicism

The focus of the study is on the dynamics of vase forms characteristic of the early phase of the Vincennes-Sèvres porcelain manufactory (or Royal manufactory). The article shows that the porcelain vases produced by that manufacturer in the first fifteen years of production are a vivid illustration of the late French Rococo, its subsequent transformation and transition to Neoclassicism. The emphasis of the research is based on the analysis of the evolution in the form and color characteristic of the early vase art of Vincennes-Sèvres (1749–1764). The research is conducted in a broad cultural background: the movement of style from the late Rococo through the so-called “Greek taste” (goût grec) to Neoclassicism, correlating with the development of scientific art history, as well as with political events, such as the Seven Years’ War, that shaped the history of France. The outcome of the study is the following conclusion. The first vases of Vincennes-Sèvres – low-functional, complex and supercomplex forms, carrying more artistic than utilitarian value, in the middle of the 18th century not only had the status of a cultural icon, but were nothing less than art objects. The fascination with such vases may be characterized as vasomania, a special kind of fashion, characteristic of the whole 18th century.

1. Apel’, K.O. (2005), “Sèvres Porcelain”, Antikvariat, predmety iskusstva i kollektsionirovaniya [Antiques, art and collectibles], nо. 9 (30), рр. 32–45.

2. Bellaigue, G. (2009), French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, vol. 1, Royal Collection Trust, London, United Kingdom.

3. Biryukova, N.Yu. and Kazakevich, N.I. (2005), Sevrskii farfor XVIII veka. Gosudarstvennyi Ermitazh [Sevres porcelain of the 18th century. The State Hermitage Museum], Izd-vo Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

4. Collins, P. (1998), Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture, 1750–1950, McGill-Queen’s Press – MQUP, Montreal, Canada.

5. Daniel’, S.M. (2010), Rokoko. Ot Vatto do Fragonara [Rococo. From Watteau to Fragonard], Azbuka-klassika, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

6. Elliot, A. (2021), “Remarkable Design and Restoration: Investigations into a Pair of Sèvres Elephant-Head Vases”, The Journal of the Walters Art Museum, vol. 75, available at: https://journal.thewalters.org/volume/75/note/remarkable-design-andrestoration/ (Accessed 27 November 2023).

7. Ennès, P. (1997), Un défi au goût. Catalogue d’exposition, RMN, Paris, France.

8. Feray, J. (1988), Architecture intérieure et décoration en France des origines à 1875, Berger-Levrault, France.

9. Ivanov, N.A. (2018), Ornament: Germenevtika i glossarii [Ornament. Hermeneutics and Glossary], Eterna, Moscow, Russia.

10. Kisluk-Grosheide, D. and Munger, J. (2010), The Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.

11. Koeppe, W. (2012), “Abraham and David Roentgen as Europe’s Principal Cabinetmakers. From Rococo Playfulness to Neoclassical Elegance”, Extravagant Inventions. The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA, рр. 3–15.

12. Lihachjov, D.S. (1998), Poeziya sadov. K semantike sadovo-parkovykh stilei. Sad kak tekst [Poetry of gardens. On a semantics of gardening styles. Garden as a text], Soglasie, Moscow, Russia.

13. McCorquodale, Ch. (1990), Ubranstvo zhilogo inter’era ot antichnosti do nashikh dnei [The history of interior decoration], Iskusstvo, Moscow, Russia.

14. Martino, P. (1973), Encyclopédie de la̕rt, peinture, sculpture, architecture, vol. 5, Art classique et baroque, Éditions Lidis, Paris, France.

15. Monval, J. (1918), Soufflot: sa vie, son oeuvre, son esthétique (1713–1780), Librairie A. Lemerre, Paris, France.

16. Ottomeyer, H. (2004), “Vasemania: Neoclassical Form and Ornament in Europe: Selections from the Metropolitan Museum of Art”, Vasemania – Form and Ornament in Neoclassical Europe, Yale University Press, New York, USA, рр. 15–29.

17. Paredes, L. (2009), Sèvres Then and Now: Tradition and Innovation in Porcelain, 1750– 2000, Hillwood Museum and Gardens Foundation, Washington, USA.

18. Sassoon, A. (1992), Vincennes and Sèvres Porcelain: Catalogue of the Collections, Getty Publications, Los Angeles, USA.

19. Savill, R. (1998), The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, vol 1, Vases, The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom.

20. Shestakov, V.P. (1993), “William Hogarth and the English aesthetic tradition of the 18th century”, Estetika Khogarta i sovremennost’ [Hogarth’s aesthetics and the present.], NII teorii i istorii izobrazitel’nykh iskusstv RAKh, Moscow, Russia, рр. 37–69.

21. Sider, D. (2005), The Library of the Villa Dei Papiri at Herculaneum, Getty Publications, Los Angeles, USA.

22. Vilenskii, Ya.E. (2018), “18th-century European porcelain as artifact and art object, or The Story of a compotiere”, Aktual’nye problemy teorii i istorii iskusstva [Current issues of art theory and history]. Izd-vo SPbGU, Saint Petersburg, Russia, рр. 637–644.

23. Wiechmann, С. (2021), Research into the Degradation of the Elements Inside the Cages of Two Birdcage Vases. MA Thesis, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.