What characterises 19th-century French Sevres style porcelain caskets?

19th-century French Sevres style caskets feature vibrant porcelain panels, often in signature ground colours such as bleu celeste, embellished with hand-painted vignettes and gilt accents framed by elaborate ormolu mounts.

What materials are traditionally used in French ormolu jewellery caskets?

These caskets combine soft-paste or hard-paste porcelain plaques with ormolu (gilded bronze) mounts, often lined with fabric inside to protect delicate jewellery.

How can you identify an authentic 19th-century Sevres style casket?

Authentic pieces display precise gilded bronze casting with chased detail, hand-painted artwork rendered with fine detail, and characteristic manufacturer marks under the base or lid.

How do you style an antique French porcelain casket in a modern interior?

Position the casket on a marble-topped sideboard, dressing table, or mantelpiece where ambient light highlights its gilded mounts and painted porcelain panels.

How should an antique porcelain and ormolu casket be cleaned and preserved?

Dust gently with a soft, dry microfibre cloth, avoid chemical cleansers on the metalwork to preserve the original gilding, and use a damp cotton swab for targeted porcelain cleaning.

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Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

19th century

For Sale by Regent Antiques

Description

This is a fabulous antique French Ormolu and Sevres Porcelain jewellery casket, circa 1870 in date.

This magnificent casket is rectangular in shape, with the top as well as each side exceptionally well decorated with superb Sevres Porcelain panels featuring splendid scenes of lovely putti in landscapes, enclosed within charming floral gilt borders against a Bleu Celeste background.

The lid opens to reveal a sumptuous purple velvet lined interior, which is ready to keep custody of your precious items.

It is raised on four magnificent gilt corner columns, which add an extra touch of opulence to this gorgeous piece.

This jewellery casket is of superb quality and is incredibly rare, it will instantly enhance any room.

Condition:

In excellent condition. With no chips, cracks or signs of repair, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 11 x Width 23 x Depth 12

Dimensions in inches:

Height 4.3 x Width 9.1 x Depth 4.7

Sevres Porcelain

traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738.

French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumoured relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles.

From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colours and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed.

The Sevres Porcelain manufactory always seemed to be in dire financial straits despite the incredibly fine works it produced. In fact, the king's insistence that only the finest items be created may have contributed to the difficulties. Only a limited number of European nobility could afford the extravagant prices demanded for such works. King Louis XV and eventually his heir, the ill-fated Louis XVI, were obliged to invest heavily in the enterprise. Ultimately, the Sevres Porcelain Factory produced items under the name of "Royal" and thus the well-known Sevres mark was born. King Louis XV even mandated laws that severely restricted other porcelain production in France so as to retain a near monopoly for his Sevres Porcelain. The king even willingly became chief salesman for the finest of his products, hosting an annual New Year's Day showing for French nobility in his private quarters at Versailles. He eagerly circulated among potential buyers, pitching the merits of ownership and policing the occasional light-fingered guest.

Sevres Porcelain may have indeed given the makers of Meissen and Dresden a run for their money by the end of the 18th Century but for the French Revolution. By 1800, the Sevres Porcelain Works were practically out of business due to the economic devastation of the new French Republic.

About the time when Napoleon Bonaparte named himself Emperor of France (1804), a new director was named for the Sevres Porcelain Manufactory. Alexandre Brongniart, highly educated in many fields, resurrected Sevres Porcelain. Soft-paste porcelain was

Physical Dimensions

Height

11cm (4.33")

Width

23cm (9.06")

Depth

12cm (4.72")

Declaration

Regent Antiques has dated this French Sevres Jewellery Casket to the 1870s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA761012

Dealers Internal Reference

09994

Description

This is a fabulous antique French Ormolu and Sevres Porcelain jewellery casket, circa 1870 in date.

This magnificent casket is rectangular in shape, with the top as well as each side exceptionally well decorated with superb Sevres Porcelain panels featuring splendid scenes of lovely putti in landscapes, enclosed within charming floral gilt borders against a Bleu Celeste background.

“

The lid opens to reveal a sumptuous purple velvet lined interior, which is ready to keep custody of your precious items.

Regent Antiques

fig 1. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 1. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

It is raised on four magnificent gilt corner columns, which add an extra touch of opulence to this gorgeous piece.

This jewellery casket is of superb quality and is incredibly rare, it will instantly enhance any room.

fig 2. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 2. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

Condition:

In excellent condition. With no chips, cracks or signs of repair, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 11 x Width 23 x Depth 12

Dimensions in inches:

Height 4.3 x Width 9.1 x Depth 4.7

fig 3. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 3. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

Sevres Porcelain

traces its roots in France to early craftsmen who had small manufacturing operations in such places as Lille, Rouen. St. Cloud, and most notably Chantilly. It is from Chantilly that a cadre of workers migrated to the Chateau de Vincennes near Paris to form a larger porcelain manufactory in 1738.

fig 4. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 4. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

French King Louis XV, perhaps inspired by his rumoured relationship with mistress Madame de Pompadour, took an intense interest in porcelain and moved the operation in 1756 to even larger quarters in the Paris suburb of Sevres. Sevres was also conveniently near the home of Madame de Pompadour and the King's own Palace at Versailles.

fig 5. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 5. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

From the outset the king's clear aim was to produce Sevres Porcelain that surpassed the established Saxony works of Meissen and Dresden. Though the French lacked an ample supply of kaolin, a required ingredient for hard-paste porcelain (pate dure), their soft-paste porcelain (pate tendre) was fired at a lower temperature and was thus compatible with a wider variety of colours and glazes that in many cases were also richer and more vivid. Unglazed white Sevres Porcelain "biscuit" figurines were also a great success. However, soft-paste Sevres Porcelain was more easily broken. Therefore, early pieces of Sevres Porcelain that remain intact have become rare indeed.

fig 6. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 6. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

The Sevres Porcelain manufactory always seemed to be in dire financial straits despite the incredibly fine works it produced. In fact, the king's insistence that only the finest items be created may have contributed to the difficulties. Only a limited number of European nobility could afford the extravagant prices demanded for such works. King Louis XV and eventually his heir, the ill-fated Louis XVI, were obliged to invest heavily in the enterprise. Ultimately, the Sevres Porcelain Factory produced items under the name of "Royal" and thus the well-known Sevres mark was born. King Louis XV even mandated laws that severely restricted other porcelain production in France so as to retain a near monopoly for his Sevres Porcelain. The king even willingly became chief salesman for the finest of his products, hosting an annual New Year's Day showing for French nobility in his private quarters at Versailles. He eagerly circulated among potential buyers, pitching the merits of ownership and policing the occasional light-fingered guest.

fig 7. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 7. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

Sevres Porcelain may have indeed given the makers of Meissen and Dresden a run for their money by the end of the 18th Century but for the French Revolution. By 1800, the Sevres Porcelain Works were practically out of business due to the economic devastation of the new French Republic.

fig 8. A rectangular 19th-century French jewellery casket featuring light blue porcelain panels with pink painted cherubs framed by elaborate gilt bronze mounts. — fig 8. Antique French Sevres Porcelain and Ormolu Jewellery Casket C1870 19th C

About the time when Napoleon Bonaparte named himself Emperor of France (1804), a new director was named for the Sevres Porcelain Manufactory. Alexandre Brongniart, highly educated in many fields, resurrected Sevres Porcelain. Soft-paste porcelain was