Paris, France -There was Sèvres, precisely The Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, one of the world’s leading porcelain manufactures which has been turning out indelibly elegant prices for over three centuries. Then there is the Rothschild family, collectors and philanthropists with an  incredible passion for porcelain. The two have been brought together at the Galerie des Gobelins in Paris for a sparkling, elegant and sumptuous exhibition showcasing the family’s exceptional collection of porcelain.The family collections have been transmitted through the generations with some pieces finding their way into major national and international collections through donations made by the Rothschild family. The Galerie des Gobelins is part of the Mobilier national, a historic French institution under the Ministry of Culture tasked with managing, restoring, and supplying the official furnishings and textiles for France’s most important  government properties.

The pieces are juxtaposed with archives and explanatory documents or placed in re-constituted interior decors. The project marks the first time that the Manufactures nationales– Sèvres and the Mobilier national cooperated with the Académie des beaux-arts, (the Academy of Fine Arts) which encompasses the Villa Ephrussi, a spectacular property on the French Riviera that belonged to the Rothschild family.  Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, one of the major Sèvres “maniacs” in the family bequeathed the villa, and the setting for a fabulous collection of Sèvres porcelain, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the Fine Arts Academy in 1934. 

Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild is in fact omnipresent throughout the exhibition intruding the pathways of the exhibition which is divided into nine sections. The show has benefited from exceptional loans notably from the Louvre and the Château of Versailles but also the Metropolitan Museum and Waddeson Manor in addition to objects emanating from private collections.

The show explores the history between Sèvres and the Rothschild family, the art market in the 19th century when major auctions of pieces from the Sèvres manufacture were put on the block and depicts a room from the Villa Ephrussi. It also offers a journey into how porcelain is made, a section devoted to the Rothschild’s exceptional taste and the tragic  despoliation of their properties during World War II. It also evokes the family’s philanthropic contributions of porcelain to museums in France. Known for their art of party giving, the show closes out with a remarkable dinner table setting. But terminates with objects in the colors that the family favored, notably apple green and Pompadour pink, an unusual choice as the Manufacture was know for its pieces in the blue of Sèvres, made from a cobalt oxide. The show is on until July 26th but the Villa Ephrussi, the Mobilier national and the Manufacture of Sèvres and its museum are all worthy of a visit in and of themselves. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette 

https://www.mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr

https://www.sevresciteceramique.fr/en/manufactory/sevres-manufactory-works.html

https://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en