Manufacture de Sèvres

Porcelain manufactory (founded in 1740)

Founded in 1740 at the Château de Vincennes, the manufactory relocated to Sèvres in 1756, between Paris and Versailles, with the patronage of Madame de Pompadour. Elevated to a royal manufactory in 1759 under the ownership of Louis XV, it initially produced soft-paste porcelain celebrated for its famous coloured grounds: bleu céleste, pink, and green. The discovery of kaolin at Saint-Yrieix, near Limoges, in 1768 subsequently enabled the production of hard-paste porcelain. Under the direction of Alexandre Brongniart from 1800 to 1847, Sèvres became a ceramic laboratory, supplying palaces with grand services and ceremonial vases. An imperial manufactory under Napoleon III, it continues its activity today as a national manufactory within the Cité de la céramique – Sèvres & Limoges.