History of Porcelain
Limoges
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Marco Polo’s famous 24 year trip to the
Orient was where the notion of porcelain and Chinese ceramics originated
throughout Western Europe. The Chinese were so distinguished for their
porcelain production that they influenced European style for centuries.
The first Europeans to bring porcelain making to Europe during the middle
ages were the Venetians and Portuguese. The most important ingredient to
making porcelain is Kaolin, which is a white clay that is a silicate of
aluminum found in China, Germany and Limoges France. Europeans didn’t
think that such an ingredients could be found in the earth and had their
alchemists try to artificially make this substance.For years Europeans
used a soft fake substance for porcelain that was more of a soft paste and
like that of glass. They couldn’t find a substance like the middle East
had made their fine porcelain from. In the early 17th century
Kaolin was discovered in Germany and the secret to Chinese porcelain was
finally disclosed throughout Europe. It was in the mid to late 18th
century that Kaolin was discovered in Limoges France in 18 miles southwest
of Limoges at St. Yrieix. It is shortly after that time period that the
first porcelain Limoges box factory was established. Louis XVI soon bought
the Limoges Box factory, and Limoges porcelain box blanks were taken to
Sevres to be hand painted and decorated.
Antique Limoges France and Porcelaine de Limoges factories
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No one knows exactly when and who made the first porcelain Limoges
snuffbox. The soft paste Faience snuffboxes began to be produced sometime
around 1730. These antique snuffboxes can't either be identified by back
stamp marks, for none were put on them. Nor were they signed or dated.
There is no easy way to know if a antique Limoges snuff box is authentic
beyond having a grasp of the history of the styles they made in that time
and the Four big factories that made them, Chantilly(1725-1800), Saint
Cloud(1677-1766), Mennecy(1734-73), and Vincennes(1740-56), which became
Royal Sevres(1756-present). Sometimes a popular artist at the time would
place his signature on the antique Limoges snuffbox. The discovery of
Kaolin and the creation of hard-paste Limoges porcelain in 1768 brought
many new companies into the scene who began creating Limoges porcelain
boxes in competition with the big Limoges porcelain box companies.
Identifying an 18th century Limoges snuffbox is just as difficult for they
also did not mark their Limoges Boxes with back stamps and competitors
were producing knockoff's of one another and stealing one another's
porcelain formulas and enamel recipes. For back stamps were used it is
still difficult to distinguish for many companies in competition would
forge one another's Limoges Box back stamps. It is in the 19th century
that the soft-paste porcelain ceased to exist and only genuine Limoges
porcelain boxes were made of the special clay Kaolin come solely into
play. But in the 18th century snuff became unpopular and the factories
declined in snuff Limoges box making and made more other subjects with
porcelain. It was at this time that the Limoges porcelain industry all
centered in the actual area of Limoges and it's outlying areas.
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