Johannis Tsoumas
Technological Educational Institute of Athens / Hellenic Open University. Email: iannis33@hotmail.com
Volume IX, Number 3, 2017 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v9n3.07
Received July 16, 2017; Revised September 11, 2017; Accepted September 15, 2017; Published September 20, 2017.
Abstract
The following article is a research focusing on the Sèvres porcelain factory restart on the occasion of the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte in the post-French Revolution political scene. The emergence of a new decorative style in the early 19th century, the Empire Style, which seemed to be created in order to meet the aesthetic and political needs of the new regime having as main incentive the ambitious personality of Napoleon, in conjunction with the managerial post occupation of the -until then- decadent factory by the capable scientist Alexandre Brongniart, were the two main reasons for its successful re-opening. But what were the main innovations introduced for its resuscitation and in which sectors? How was developed the production of luxury porcelain objects up to 1815, i.e. until the official cessation of the Empire Style and what were the new prospects of the factory production? What changes were made to the form and decoration of new objects? These are only some of the many issues arisen which will be examined and analyzed.
Keywords: Porcelain, Sèvres, Empire Style, Brongniart, innovation
