Manufacture Du Duc d'Angoulême - Porcelain Cup Decorated With Flower Throws Eighteenth Century

Cup and saucer in hard porcelain decorated with flower throws and gold lines. Mark in red of the Manufactory of the Duke of Angoulême, Paris 18th century In the 1770s and 1780s, several porcelain factories settled in the north of Paris between the Saint Denis and Temple suburbs, but also in or near Montmartre from Provence Street. In order to protect themselves from the monopolistic claims of the Royal Manufacture of Sèvres, they came to seek the protection of powerful princes. This was the case of the factory that interests us now: that of the Duke of Angoulême. If, like me, you are not familiar with princely titles during the reign of Louis XVI, I can tell you that the Duke of Angoulême was the son of a brother of the king, the Count of Artois. The latter will go down in history as Charles X, the last Bourbon monarch. As such, the Duke of Angoulême was one of the pretenders to the throne of France after the revolution of 1830. "One of the most important factories in Paris" Here is the flattering description of this factory by Charles Ernest Guignet in his treatise on ancient ceramics. It was installed in the rue de Bondy, as it was then called, rue René Boulanger, with its serpentine shape just off the boulevard Saint Martin, a stone's throw from the place de la République. Remember that the Count of Artois was a great protector of French porcelain, having his wing a factory in the Faubourg Saint Denis, very close to the one that concerns us here. The entrepreneurs of the Duc d'Angoulême factory: Guérhard and Dihl As you can imagine, it was not the prince who managed and operated the factory. He was just patronizing her and letting her use his initials. As reported by Guignet, the first managers were Guérhard and Dihl. Until the Revolution, they signed their products with an oval seal containing the duke's cipher, surmounted by the prince's crown. Then, after the Revolution, this patronage was no longer of any use. Also, they replaced the mark with “MM. of Guerhard and Dihl”. Of course, during the Restoration, even though they were still active, they took up the reference of the Duke of Angoulême: "MANUFAC DE MGR LE DUC D'ANGOULÊME A PARIS." Edouard Garnier indicates that Dihl was a "skilled chemist", using rich and varied colors. Some of his works are kept in the museum of Sèvres. Advertising for the factory By doing some quick research, we found in the Mercure de France of January 18, 1783, an advertisement for the products of the porcelain factory of the Duke of Angoulême. “There is an Art, that of making Porcelain, which we have brought to France in France to the degree of perfection. We have succeeded in making the whole of Europe our tributary in this genre, after having been so during strings of China, Japan & Saxony. In the number of Manufactures which are raised, there is one which deserves to be distinguished, it is that established rue de Bondy, behind the Opera, 8c formed under the protection of SAR Mgr. the Duke of Angoulême. It has the property of going to fire; it is a pleasant white. The biscuit is beautiful. It brings together the variety of colors 8c the elegance of the diviner & forms; but what distinguishes it from other porcelains is the astonishing imitation of flowers, among others hyacinths, which have the port and the truth of Nature.