PENSIONERS, OLIGARCHS, TRACTORS, BOOTBOYS, BUNS AND PORCELAIN !
Frenchmen abroad: Gouyn, Sprimont and the birth of Chelsea porcelain
Chelsea porcelain was produced from the mid 1740’s at a manufactory at Lawrence Street (just under a mile as the crow flies from Stamford Bridge, for those in the know) under the auspices of Charles Gouyn and Nicholas Sprimont. These two Frenchmen, formerly a jeweler and a silversmith respectively, embarked on the creation of pieces from soft-paste porcelain using technology that had been known in the United Kingdom barely a couple of years by the time that they set up their business. It was known as “soft paste” due to being fired at lower temperatures than those which were required to finish porcelain of the hard-paste variety - and it actually became less stable as temperatures in the kiln were increased.
As ever, the initial premise for the
development of such material had been in order to replicate much prized
oriental wares – originals having been imported from the Far East - and
it had first been crafted in rudimentary fashion at Rouen (France) in
the 1670’s, and then more successfully at St Cloud to the west of Paris a
little later. Being known as “Porcelain Française” this type of china
would certainly have been familiar to both gentlemen by the time they
relocated to this side of the Channel, and having been demonstrated to
the Royal Society by Thomas Briand – an enameling artist of some note -
in 1742, it would have been seen as both a practical and very desirable
material with which to work; Briand and Gouyn are known to have shared
their expertise at around this time, whilst pursuing converging projects
at Briand’s own nascent porcelain works situated at Pedlar's Acre in
Lambeth, which is now better known as the site of the London Eye.
The output of St Cloud was to be a significant influence on the style
of early Chelsea wares (those marked with the distinctive triangular
stamp used to denote products from the first half dozen years of
production). Sprimont also took inspiration from the work of a former
cohort and fellow silversmith, Juste-Aurele Meissonier. It seems
probable that Gouyn set up another separate facility near to the
Lawrence Street premises, producing early figurines for a short time
until he decamped once more to his own entirely independent concern
based at St James’s nearer to Westminster. Although his products were
distinctive – for the most part takin the form of taper holders, scent
bottles, small figurines and miniature animals, all of which were
unmarked – they still fall under the nominal Chelsea remit due to Gouyn
and Sprimont’s shared heritage.
Back at Lawrence Street, Sprimont
secured the future of his now autonomous operation by arranging
patronage from William, Duke of Cumberland (aye – the Butcher of
Culloden – him !) He set out to further enhance the factory’s product
range by bringing in renowned enamellers from Ireland and France, and
added to the scope of figurine production by using them as set-pieces
within sets of tableware made to similar designs. The many and varied
exhibits at Hans Sloane’s renowned Physicians & Apothecaries Gardens
were sufficiently proximate to the Chelsea works to provide a ready
“reference library” for Sprimont’s artists, and the archives in turn
inspired a range of materials bearing botanically correct floral
designs, after an existing German style which was popular at the time.
Sprimont’s input was so integral to the running of the factory that
when he fell ill in 1756 the whole operation was closed down for the two
year duration of his incapacitation. Europe was by now ravaged by war,
the Duke of Cumberland’s interests were elsewhere (mainly in getting his
backside kicked by the French at the Battle of Hastenback and then
surrendering meekly – hah!), and by the time production started up
again, Sèvres was setting the standards. A newly conservative Sprimont
was happy to replicate the style of the French manufactory, although
ongoing commissions from the Royal family indicated that he was still
very highly regarded. The following years saw many pieces produced which
echoed the work of both Sèvres and Vincennes, and there was even scope
for the manufacture of many miniature and utilitarian pieces, similar to
those those which Gouyn had made as his earlier “breakaway” factory and
which became known as “Chelsea Toys”.
Ultimately another bout of
ill-health forced Sprimont to sell the factory to James Cox in 1769.
Cox very quickly passed on the controlling interest to William Duesbury,
a one-time London based enameller who had set up his own pottery in
Derby. Duesbury recognised the high quality of the Chelsea material
which he had previously sourced for use as blanks on to which he could
paint, and maintained both factories running in parallel for some
fifteen years, with very similar pieces being made at both locations. So
uniform was the output produced during this period that, regardless of
where they might have come from, all the items became known as examples
of Chelsea-Derby ware, which was considerably less unwieldy than the
formal name of the concern which labored under the title of Mr
Duesbury’s Derby & Chelsea Manufactory of Porcelains, Biscuit and
China Wares, both Ornamental and Useful – try and use that one as your
Facebook page title ! Eventually, however, this early exercise in remote
business locations was abandoned, Lawrence Street was closed down and
demolished, and everything which could be put to good use was relocated
to the midlands, along with many of the workmen.
As ever, follow the link below to see our catalogue of Chelsea porcelain
site search results for Chelsea porcelain
for more blog entries about British porcelain, check the links below:
William Billingsley's Artistic Genius
Welsh Porcelain (Nantgarw, Swansea etc)
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