Saint-Cloud Porcelain - Blue-and-white Porcelain

Blue-and-white Porcelain

The porcelain produced in Saint-Cloud was influenced by late Ming blue and white porcelain and its motifs were based on Chinese originals. The typical blue-painted Saint-Cloud porcelain, says W.B.Honey, "is one of the most distinct and attractive of porcelains, and not the least part of its charm lies in the quality of the material itself. It is rarely of a pure white, but the warm yellowish or ivory tone of the best wares of the period is sympathetic and by no means a shortcoming; and while actually very soft and glassy, it has a firm texture unlike any other. The glaze often shows a fine satin-like pitting of the surface that helps to distinguish it from the brilliant shiny glaze of Mennecy, which is otherwise similar. The heavy build of the pieces is also characteristic and is saved from clumsiness by a finer sense of mass, revealed in the subtly graduated thickness of wall and a delicate shaping of edges."