Fan of The French Porcelain Society

02/10/2026

Two rare Medici porcelain vases have been donated to the Museo di San Marco in Florence. They are two of only 60 to 70 surviving pieces manufactured in the Casino di San Marco complex, established by Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, between 1575 and 1585. Today only one other example of Medici porcelain is in a Tuscan Culture Ministry institution, so the donation of two vases triples the number in public collections in their place of origin.

The first vessel is a jug, similar to Hispano-Moresque mesciroba, 16 cm, a European shape with a blue design drawing on Chinese porcelain from the Ming Dynasty as well as Islamic metalware.

The larger second item, 20 cm, is a vase with parallels in the grotesque-decorated Urbino majolica pieces that had already been part of the Medici collections since 1569.

Plan your visit to see them:

https://museitoscana.cultura.gov.it/luoghi_della_cultura/museo_di_san_marco/

26/09/2026

On September 22, 2026, the Musée National du Château de Versailles exercised its right of pre-emption to acquire a rare pair of 18th-century Sèvres porcelain oval-shaped verrières (seaux crénelés) from the Louis XVI's 'beau bleu' service for €926,800!

Apologies if you were the underbidder.

For the lot description from the auction house Artcurial:

https://www.artcurial.com/en/sales/6587/lots/173-a

20/09/2026

Hope your day begins with jam on toast served from a Sèvres stand with jam pots ('plateau à deux pots de confiture'), here dated 1779 (BB), and painter's mark y, probably for Edme-François Bouillat (père) or his wife, Mme. Geneviève-Louise Bouillat (née Thévenet). Both were flower painters. This model is from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.

For the marks and more Sèvres in their collection:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2009.93 -views

19/09/2026

Attention UK-based Ceramic Artists!
Open Call for Commissions:
English Ceramic Circle Centenary Display at V&A South Kensington
October 2027 – September 2028

In 2027, the English Ceramic Circle (ECC) will mark its 100th anniversary with a special display celebrating British ceramics past and present. This will showcase the work of contemporary artists who take direct inspiration from historic British ceramics. We invite proposals for UK-based ceramic artists to respond to the display’s theme.

Deadline for submissions:
15th November 2026

For more information

English Ceramic Circle CentenaryOpen Call for CommissionsEnglish Ceramic Circle Centenary Display at V&A South KensingtonOctober 2027 – September 2028In 2027, the English Ceramic Circle (ECC) will mark its 100th anniversary with a special display celebrating British ceramics past and present. This...

19/09/2026

A pair of Sèvres vases, c. 1785, offered by Louis XVI to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, in the 2026 catalogue of Galerie Steinitz, Paris! Let us know if you purchase the vases!

https://www.steinitz.fr/en/news/publications/

17/09/2026

Giving "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Disney's Cinderella vibes!

Pair of Triangular Potpourri Vases, 1761
Soft-paste porcelain with polychrome enamel decoration and gilding
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (Manufacturer)
French, active 1756 - present

Charles-Nicolas Dodin (Decorator) (1734-1803)
Jean-Claude Duplessis, père (Designer)(1690-1774)

Dimensions
Overall (71.246): 11 1/2 × 6 1/2 × 7 inches (29.2 × 16.5 × 17.8 cm)
Overall (71.247): 12 × 6 1/2 × 7 inches (30.5 × 16.5 × 17.8 cm)

Bequest of Mrs. Horace E. Dodge in memory of her husband
Accession Number V71.246-247

Detroit Insititue of Art

17/09/2026

Job Alert: Cataloguer, V&A Wedgwood Collection
Salary: £28,520
Location: Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent

Deadline 20 September 2026!

https://vam.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/4306314?cid=3279&rsid=24732&js=0&LinkType=1&FromSearch=False

11/09/2026

Are you also interested in the history of collecting? There is a Society for the History of Collecting, celebrating its tenth anniversary. They have American chapters, others in France, Austria, Portugal and Italy. This is the link to their new website.
It's £30 per annum.

https://societyhistorycollecting.org/

08/09/2026

New Acquisition for the V&A Museum, London:

A footed dish ('Crespina') with a scene of painters in a pottery workshop, executed in the Compendario style, with maiolica palette combined with a white ground, made in Faenza, Italy, and signed by the painter “Maestro del servizio V numerato”
Late 16th/ early 17th century.

For more details:

https://www.rare-ceramics.com/past-sales/new-stock-template-2/

For the V&A entry:

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1821864/dish-dish/

06/09/2026

Dog Chasing a Swan (Chien poursuivant un cygne)

This porcelain sculptural group depicts a hostile confrontation between a swan and a dog – the dog is shown crouching and barking, perhaps readying for a lunge, while the swan seemingly squawks and hisses while rearing back. These animals are both completely gilded, or decorated in gold, while the rocky ground on which they stand as well as the background of vegetation have been covered in a bright blue glaze that has been accented with additional gilding. Cracks or fissures within ceramic body can be seen in various places, such as near the dog’s rearmost foot.

After Jean Baptiste Oudry (French, 1686 - 1755) (Artist)
Possibly created by Jean Chabry, a sculptor of the Académie de Saint-Luc since 1738, responsible for translating Oudry’s models into three-dimensional form.
18th century
Vincennes Porcelain Manufactory (French, active ca. 1740-1756)
or Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active 1756 - present)

Soft-paste porcelain, white and coloured glazes, gilding; gilded-metal stand

Manufacturer's mark painted in blue on underside: [two interlaced L's with a dot or O between them and a C underneath]; inscribed on underside: cadet ; paper sticker on underside inscribed in ink: 36 [?]; paper sticker with printed inscription: DOUANES / EXPOSITIONS / PARIS

PROVENANCE: E. M. (Edwin Marriott) Hodgkins Collection, Paris; A. Seligmann, Rey and Co. (date and mode of acquisition unknown); purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.

https://art.thewalters.org/object/48.594/