Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1879-10-23

ltubens and Others of the great masters.
Since the death of Brogniart, the directors
of the Sevres factory have been Ebelman,
Regnaut and Robert.
The marks used on Sevres china are
quite numerous and sesve to show very
accurately the period of production. Thus
we have the two LIS interaced, the mono
gram of the King, used on the earliest por-
celain of Nincennes, and also at Sevres,
with the additiono of letters to give the date,
as: A, 1903, B, 1754, 9, 1865, AA, 1878,
etc., down to 1892, when the word Sevres,
with the monogram r. F., RcpubLique
FrdncdiSe, was adopted, and until 1900.
During the two years the II. f. was dropp-
ed, and then the changing marks begin to
shadow the rise in the fortunes of Napo-
leon; Manufacture Rationale de Sevres, in
1903. NJ. Imp'le de Sevres 1904 to 1909,
and from 1909 to 1914, the imperial eagle
and the crown, surrounded by the words,
Manufacture Imperial Sevres, were used.
The interlaced LIS came in with Louis
XVIII; the interlaced C's, sometimes in
closing an Y, sometimes covered by
crown, mark the short reign of Charles X.
With Louis Philippe, the fleur- lis
was introduced, but he soon replaced it
with his monogram, which was in turn dis
placed by the old cipher of the republic.
At first Louis Napoleon used the eagle,
then the crowned N, but the most familiar
mark on modern Sevres china, is the letter
S and the date of the century, enclosed in
an oval and printed in pale green. This
mark has been in use since lS4S on all
pieces in addition to the other marks named.
China that was sole white, without being
decorated has this mark cut through by
fine wheel, removing the glaze and plainly
indicating the character of the piece. These
pieces are often decorated in the Sevres
styles, and makes very good copies, but no
one need be deceived as to their character
since the mark plainly betrays. A more
successful trick is to take fully, marked
Sevres with plain, cheap decoration, and
removing this, put in its place some very
elaborate Sevres decoration, thus giving to
the whole the character and authority of
real Sevres work. Such a forgery as this
is almost impossible to detect if the work is
well done.
Since July, 1872, there has been used on
Sevres porcelain, as an additional guaran-
tee of the genuineness of the decoration the
monogram r. F., enclosed in circle with
lhS hdtSI uLIu lnI WOlIo L/Of T. u DCCTCc W
DecOre q SeUreS.
AS TO the beauty of Sevres china COM
pared with the production of the other
continental potteries, opinions differ. 1t is,
so largely a matter of taste, and our tastes
are 50 affected by education and surround
ing, that on the question of relative merits
of different specimens or schools of art, the
best of critics differ But there are certain
points which generally admitted, and which
may aid in forming judgment on such
question.
The Dresden porcelain, as porcelain, is
superior TO any other Occidental variety, in
hardness, purity and strength. But the
Sevres pate-tendre is as much in advance
in the delicate softness of Its glaze which
absorbs the colors and gives them an un-
equalled depth and lustre, while on the
pate-dur the colors remain fixed on the sur
face and do not sink in. The Sevres paint
ing is concededly superior IN several de-
partments to the Dresden, and, although
the English artists have made great prog
ress in the past few years, both in flower,
figure and landscape painting, and may in
the near future become successful rivals,
the Sevres factory still retains its artistic
and technical supremacy.