Mathurin MOREAU SÈVRES - Biscuit, Young Woman and Putti

A maker of exemplary European ceramics for hundreds of years, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres has produced porcelain of the highest quality since 1740.

The factory enjoyed royal patronage from its earliest days, and its most prominent patrons in the late 1700s — King Louis XV of France and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour — commissioned some of the period’s most elegant and striking pieces (only the truly wealthy could afford porcelain at this time). The company was originally established in Vincennes but was moved at the request of Madame de Pompadour, in 1756, to Sèvres, near Versailles, so that its operations would be closer to her château.

Sèvres became a mighty and much-revered factory working under a special grant from King Louis XV — the company’s owner as of 1759 and whose abundance of orders for special state gifts put financial strain on the company. Madame de Pompadour is said to have commissioned Sèvres to create an entire indoor garden of porcelain botanicals, for example.

While Sèvres gained a sterling reputation for its soft-paste porcelain wares, the company was late in entering into the production of hard-paste porcelain.

Hard-paste porcelain is the most common type of Chinese porcelain, then a widely exported and profitable product that was not made in Europe until the 18th century. The resources at Sèvres were largely relegated to meeting the demands of Louis XV, and secondly, it did not acquire the secret formula for hard-paste porcelain until 1761.

Until it obtained the coveted secrets behind hard-paste porcelain from a chemist named Pierre-Antoine Hannong — and, years later, gained access to the elusive raw materials to make hard-paste porcelain — Sèvres produced soft-paste porcelain for decades that was widely celebrated but is comparatively a far weaker type as opposed to the hard-paste productions of the company’s rival, Meissen, in Saxony, the first to produce true porcelain outside of Asia.

The artisans at Sèvres applied the rarest and most difficult-to-produce colors to their decorative objects and dinner services. One such color, the bright bleu de roi, became the manufacturer’s signature shade and is found on many of their objects. Sèvres also experimented with rarely glazed or unglazed works that bore no decoration at all — bisque porcelain, French for “biscuit,” refers to unadorned white porcelain sculptures made at Sèvres that resemble white marble after being kiln-fired.

Sèvres marks were applied over the glaze or rendered with cuts by a sharp tool — authentic Sèvres porcelain is most commonly marked with two interlaced Ls that are painted in blue and enclose a third letter. Painters and potters were tasked with affixing marks to record their role in the creation of a particular piece, and as a lot of these artisans’ names are recorded in archival factory materials — and there is also much to be learned at the Sèvres museum — it’s likely that you can accurately identify your Sèvres piece.

Find antique and vintage Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres vases, urns, sculptures and more on 1stDibs.

Mathurin Moreau was a renowned French sculptor born on November 18, 1822, in Dijon, France, into a family of artists. He was the son of sculptor Jean-Baptiste Moreau and the brother of sculptors Hippolyte and Auguste Moreau, thus part of a dynasty that significantly influenced French sculpture in the 19th century. Educated at the École des Beaux-Arts under the tutelage of Étienne-Jules Ramey and Augustin-Alexandre Dumont, Moreau went on to become a prominent figure in the French art scene. He was known for his exceptional skills in crafting bronze sculptures, which are among the most celebrated aspects of his artistic legacy. Moreau debuted at the Salon in 1848 and rapidly gained acclaim. His works often depicted allegorical figures, mythological scenes, and typical rural life, capturing both the idealistic beauty and the detailed realism that were hallmarks of the period's sculpture. Many of his bronzes were cast by the famous Val d'Osne foundry, which helped ensure the high quality of his pieces. The foundry was known for its superb craftsmanship and was one of the primary mediums for Moreau’s creations. Throughout his career, Mathurin Moreau received numerous awards, including a medal of honor at the Exposition Universelle in 1878. He was also made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1865 and rose to become an officer of the order in 1885. His artworks were not only celebrated in France but also internationally, as his bronzes found homes in diverse locations, from Parisian squares to foreign collections. Moreau's works are characterized by their classical style, attention to detail, and the expressive beauty of their subjects. Some of his notable bronze sculptures include allegorical representations such as "La Danse" and "L’Eau". These pieces exemplify his ability to translate ethereal themes into tangible beauty, making his sculptures highly sought after by collectors and museums worldwide. Mathurin Moreau passed away in 1912, leaving behind a rich legacy of artistic achievement that continues to be celebrated and revered in the art world today. His sculptures, especially his bronzes, remain valuable for their artistic and historical significance, often fetching high prices at auctions and retaining a place of prominence in collections of 19th-century French art.