19th century world fair vases. Who made them?

Well! That's taken me in another direction. Thanks!

 

Looking some more, found that there are individual entries for the firms in the Limoges list. What I am not finding is any mention of Sèvres, anywhere. Does anyone know if there is another name that might be listed by?

 

Whether by chance or the deviousness of the Internet, today's e-mail brought this link:

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/d...nters-cachepots-jardinieres/material/ceramic/

which includes this item:

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/d...th-century-japonisme-cache-pot/id-f_11380201/

Seller is in France, and translation of description to English rather confusing,but decoration on this one closer to yours than others.

From what I've seen, on the very high end pieces, the parts that on yours are gilt ceramic, the lion handles, the base & upper rim, are gilt bronze (ormolu). Yours is a Sèvres wannabe. There seem to be a great many with descriptions something like: 'Attractive pair of 19th century French Sèvres style'.

I find it difficult to believe that any firm who entered work into the exposition would not have marked it in some way. Does family lore go that it was these 2 pots themselves that were on exhibit, or 2 that were like them?

 

Great info. Yep, it was these pots that came from there. For us it's fact because it wasn't a distant relative, and if you saw what else they accumulated, you'd understand that they wouldn't go for cheap knock-offs. Maybe it is cheap, it should have a marking, and they got duped, but the story is accurate. It certainly doesn't seem to be a Sèvres, so I'll rule that out.

Thanks for having a look!

 

Hi, John: I may have your maker. Several years ago, when pottery was still hot, I had a plate with very similar decoration. It was made by Longwy in France. Here are a couple pictures of the plate. What does everyone think?

 

I think it think it is similar work, so that 'enamel' would be another good search term, but Longwy is not listed in the exposition catalogue & Longwy is not short on marks:

https://www.libertys.com/longwy.htm

 

Yes, the mark on my plate was impressed. Maybe it is there on John's cache pots but hard to see?

 

There were entries from 44 Japanese ceramics firms.

This is more recent & not the same quality, but I think we may be looking at something that is Japanese, not just influenced.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/253458507909



The list of Japanese entrants begins on page 31 of the section for Groupe III - Classe 20 at the link for the catalogue posted earlier.

 

BTW. There were only 3 entrants from the US, one of them Rookwood.

 

I have just read a really interesting paper on retail stores at World Fairs and the subsequent growth of department stores in the cities where the Fairs were held after 1850. It seems not only high-end goods and unique objects were displayed, but retail sales were offered within the Fair. Fairs generated huge interest and sales.

Bronwen and John, I also wonder if it is possible these vases are a retail purchase rather than exhibition pieces? They could have been bought in Paris at the time of the Exposition.

(Pat P you posted at almost the same time I did. Great minds...)

 

Could it be that the ones you have are identical, from the same maker, but weren't actually displayed at the Exposition?

 

Unless I missed something, I don't think it's been determined which Paris Exposition this item was displayed at. So it could be in another catalog.

 

There were five World Fairs in Paris during the nineteenth century: in 1855, 1867, 1878, 1889 and 1900.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I was assuming based on good condition, nearness of family memory & Asian origin or style. However:

For French entrants to the exposition of 1855 see page 122, 7th Section, at:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnavva;view=1up;seq=238

 

Here's 1867, with some pictures:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t9380k348;view=1up;seq=16

 

I'm afraid my high school French is far too inadequate to read the entries accurately!

 

There are so many cognates, you can get the gist of what each entrant had to show much of the time.

This seems to be the 1867 catalogue as it was printed after the winners were chosen. The one at the link I gave before is more like a review, with little write ups of selected entrants.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t2z32st60;view=1up;seq=10

This is an absolute nightmare because there does not seem to be a section laying out the organization of groups & classes, the search function is useless. You could spend the rest of your natural days scrolling though it to find what you want:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t2z32st60;view=1up;seq=10

 

This is amazing stuff.
My father will have a read as he's Belgian by birth so it'll be a doddle for him.
He believes it could have been the one circa 1860, but he's not 100%.
He is convinced that it was displayed, but I can live without knowing for sure.
Thanks so much to each of you for providing your expertise in this puzzle! I have plenty of other items, but I'll save them for some other time!

 

If I remember correctly, the books I have on the London Exposition were produced after the event to show what had been exhibited. They're wonderful, large books with full-color illustrations.

So I imagine the expositions issued a catalog in advance to stir interest and help people navigate the event, and then either the exposition itself or a publisher would produce a book or set of books to showcase what had been displayed.

I suspect in those days the books were coveted since they were probably one of the few ways to see the latest trends.

 

Whether you can pin their origin down or not, they're lovely items that are worthy of the care your family obviously gave them.