Limoges Porcelain

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Limoges Porcelain is one world’s most famous porcelain producing regions and is a generic term for porcelain produced in Limoges rather than the production of a specific factory.

Beginning in 1771 and following on from the soft paste porcelain factories of the early 18th Century, a hard-paste porcelain industry developed near Limoges. Large kaolin deposits had been discovered nearby and the hard paste porcelain method had been perfected by that time.

Pictured left: Modern Haviland Porcelain – Rose Centifolia

The manufacturing of hard-paste porcelain at Limoges, following the discovery of local supplies of kaolin, was established by Turgot in 1771 and placed under the patronage of the comte d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI. Limoges had been the site of a minor industry producing plain faience earthenwares since the 1730s, but the first identified French source of kaolin and a material similar to petuntse, the ingredients used for the production of hard-paste porcelain similar to Chinese porcelain, were discovered at Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, near Limoges, in an economically distressed area, and began to be quarried in 1768. The manufactory was purchased by the king in 1784, apparently with the idea of producing hard-paste bodies for decoration at Sèvres, a venture that did not work out. Source Wikipedia

By the 1800’s, Limoges had become one of the largest porcelain centers in Europe with a number of factories established including the famous Haviland which continues production today.

Founded by American David Haviland in 1842 who was fascinated by “Limousin white gold” and was moved to cross the Atlantic to set up in Limoges. The Haviland factory initially made tableware for the American market with porcelain featuring soft colors that blend together and small floral patterns.

Limoges maintains the position it established in the nineteenth century as the premier manufacturing city of porcelain in France.