ARTWORKS OF THE FIRST PORCELAIN MANUFACTURERS OF FRANCE FROM THE KHANENKO MUSEUM COLLECTION

Abstract

The study is devoted to selected works of French porcelain from the collection of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts. They are considered in the context of the history of porcelain in the first half of the 18th century. It was a time of active development of porcelain production in France, the time of the establishment of such world-famous manufactories as Chantilly, Mennecy and the Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Sevres. The works of these factories, which were produced in the 1730s and 1750s, were selected for study. The purpose of the article is the attribution of the selected subjects. The study examines tableware made of soft porcelain, a material that was invented in France and is a technologically special type of porcelain. The features of forms, decoration and marking of objects of each production were analyzed. The result of the work is an updated attribution of works from the museum collection. Conclusions: The Khanenko Museum preserves works of soft porcelain made in the first periods production, namely: a sugar bowl with a tray from 1730–1740 of the Chantilly manufactory, painted in the «kakiemon» style, characteristic of this period; a mid-18th century cup and saucer made in Mennecy is a typical example of production; a 1754 cooler made at the Vincennes Royal Porcelain Manufactory (before production moved to Sèvres), and four pieces (two ice cream cups and two coolers) from a service commissioned by the marquis de Paulmy in 1760. The results of the conducted research provide detailed information about each subject that was considered. Features of production, precise dating, establishment of authorship are a valuable contribution to the study of the collection of French porcelain. The evidence of the rarity of the mentioned items reinforces the importance of the rich collection of the Khanenko Museum.