How do I safely clean a painted plate?

Dust with a soft, dry brush. If the piece needs washing, use lukewarm water and a mild soap. Never submerge items with metal mounts. Avoid rubbing the fragile gilded edges.

I read that they made sets specifically for drinking hot chocolate, but how do those cups differ from the ones used for drinking tea?

Chocolate cups usually have straight, cylindrical sides. They often feature a single handle and sit in a deep saucer with a raised gallery to stop the cup sliding. Tea cups tend to have a wider, flared bowl to help the liquid cool. The straight sides of the chocolate cup were designed to keep the thick drink warm for longer.

What does biscuit porcelain actually mean?

Biscuit refers to porcelain that has been fired once but left unglazed. The resulting matte white surface looks very much like carved marble. The factory favoured this finish for sculptural groups and table ornaments. Without a reflective glaze, the fine details of the modelling remain sharp and distinct.

Why do some of the large vases have tiny holes drilled through the base when they clearly were not made to be mounted as lamps?

Many large ornamental pieces were designed to be bolted to gilded bronze bases or plinths. The factory drilled these holes before firing to ensure a clean passage for the metal fittings. Complex vases were sometimes cast in multiple sections. A central metal rod would pass through these holes, holding the cast sections together tightly. Later owners occasionally repurposed them, but the original intent was structural stability.

Home > Ceramics > Sevres > Page 2

Antique Sevres

← Page 2 of 2 →

Antique Sèvres porcelain encompasses highly decorated soft-paste and hard-paste ceramics made in France for the wealthy elite, functioning both as elaborate tableware and decorative display pieces.