Limoges porcelain designates hard-paste porcelain produced by factories near the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 1700s, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer.
History
Limoges had been the site of a minor industry producing plain faience earthenwares since the 1730s. The manufacturing of hard-paste porcelain at Limoges was established by Turgot in 1771 following the discovery of local supplies of kaolin and a material similar to petuntse in the economically distressed area at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, near Limoges. The ingredients were used for the production of hard-paste porcelain similar to Chinese porcelain. The materials were quarried commencing in 1768.
The manufacture was placed under the patronage of the comte d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI and the manufactory was later purchased by the King in 1784, apparently with the idea of producing hard-paste bodies for decoration at Sèvres, a venture that did not work out.
After the Revolution a number of private factories were established at Limoges, including Bernardaud and Haviland & Co.
Present day
Limoges maintains the position it established in the nineteenth century as the premier manufacturing city of porcelain in France. Current manufacturers include Bernardaud and Haviland & Co.
References
- M. Ernoud-Gandouet, La Céramique en France au XIXe siècle (Paris) 1969.
- Mary Frank Gaston, The Collector's Encyclopedia of Limoges.
- Nancy du Tertre, The Art of the Limoges Box (2003).
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