FPS LIVING ROOM LECTURES
We are delighted to welcome on our next lecture Mathieu Deldicque, Conservateur du patrimoine at the musée Condé, who will discuss a fascinating comparison between the production at Chantilly and Meissen as presented in his latest exhibition. We hope you can join us!
Living Room Lecture: THE MANUFACTORY OF EXTRAVAGANCE PORCELAIN FROM MEISSEN AND CHANTILLY – Mathieu Deldicque
Time: Sunday, 1 November 2020, 18:00PM London, UK (GMT)
Members will receive an email invitation with instructions on how to join the online lecture. If you want to join, please contact us for more details on FPSenquiries@gmail.com.
THE MANUFACTORY OF EXTRAVAGANCE PORCELAIN FROM MEISSEN AND CHANTILLY
Mathieu Deldicque
The eighteenth century was marked by the race for porcelain, which was considered as a form of ‘white gold.’ Two princes, Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and Louis-Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé and prime minister to Louis XV, who suffered from the same ‘porcelain malady,’ were great admirers of ceramics imported at great expense from the Far East. They, in turn, wanted to create their own manufactories in order to compete with productions from Asia and hence affirm their prestige, while also satisfying their passion.
This is the little-known story of two of the most important porcelain manufactories of the first half of the eighteenth century, those of Meissen and Chantilly, that will be told at the Domaine de Chantilly from 5 September 2020 to 3 January 2021.
For the first time, a major exhibition will explore the dialogue between two productions that marked the decorative arts during the Age of Enlightenment. Presented in the prestigious Grand Apartments of the château which also date from the eighteenth century and enhanced by a spectacular setting designed by architect Peter Marino, this exhibition will be an opportunity to admire pieces of a rarely achieved technical skill and luxury, combined with the gaiety of the century of art de vivre.
Image: God of Wealth, Chantilly soft-paste porcelain with polychrome tin enamel decoration, c. 1735–40. Paris, musée des Arts décoratifs, inv. 28232 © MAD Paris – Jean Tholance