Photo: Courtesy of David Stark1/6Here, the history of molds of every object ever created by the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres line the shelves like books in a wonderful design library. From Marie Antoinette’s famed milking cups—said to be molded from her actual breasts—to molds of more contemporary pieces created by artists as diverse as Louise Bourgeois and Alexander Calder, it’s all there.
Photo: Courtesy of David Stark2/6In the glaze room, shelves of jarred pigment line the walls, providing a brilliant array of color options for the manufactory’s artisans.
Photo: Courtesy of David Stark3/6The campus hosts historic birchwood-fired kilns, which are uniquely capable of producing very large pieces, a specialty of the manufactory.
Photo: Courtesy of David Stark4/6From its beginning, the manufactory has attracted an array of top artist collaborators, ranging from Auguste Rodin to Ettore Sottsass. This contemporary collaboration in process caught my eye. Despite my begging, the director would not reveal the artist to me, but regardless, I love the grand scale of these shapes—approximately four feet in height.
Photo: Courtesy of David Stark5/6These Brutalist pieces caught my attention, too; they’re especially fun within the context of this incredibly refined place that specializes in stately, delicate porcelain for heads of state and Russian czars.
Photo: Courtesy of David Stark6/6In contrast, I also love this tea set, super-refined but masculine. Alas, I did not write down its origin or designer, but it feels very modern to me. It’s one of the many sensational pieces on display at the lovely museum that is also on the premises, just 20 minutes or so in a suburb outside of Paris. It’s truly a hidden jewel.
