Limoges France marks

About Limoges France

Limoges porcelain is a regional production associated with Limoges and the surrounding Haute-Vienne, rather than the output of one company. The discovery of kaolin near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in 1768 supplied an essential ingredient for hard-paste porcelain. The first Limoges porcelain manufactory opened in 1771. It came under the protection of the Comte d’Artois in 1774 and was acquired by the royal Sèvres manufactory in 1784.

After the French Revolution, independent factories multiplied. By 1850 the region had more than thirty. Dinner services remained important, alongside decorative vases, figures and ambitious exhibition pieces. Haviland developed a substantial American market in the nineteenth century, while Pouyat and other factories demonstrated technical and artistic advances at international exhibitions. Separate factories and decorating workshops created a network of businesses whose names can appear together on the same object.

A factory could sell undecorated white porcelain for another workshop to paint. Consequently, one mark may identify the maker of the body and another its decorator, retailer or importer. Twentieth-century production incorporated Art Nouveau, Art Deco and later modern design. Limoges continues to produce tableware and decorative porcelain through several independent manufacturers.