The perfumed atmosphere of a lady’s chamber: Vincennes and Sèvres porcelain for use in the boudoir

Professor Dame Rosalind Savill, DBE, FBA, FSA, Director of The Wallace Collection, 1992 - 2011
The ingenuity of the Vincennes/Sèvres factory to provide a variety of porcelain items for personal use in the private apartments of eighteenth-century France was boundless. This talk will consider the models developed for washing, hygiene and health, for cosmetics and grooming, and for heating and serving the light meals consumed during the ritual of the toilette, or while confined to bed. The factory also created shapes to enhance the ambiance of these small and busy spaces, from perfume burners and pot-pourri vases, to plaques for work tables and writing desks, as well as pieces for the pastimes and social occasions with friends that were part of daily life in these intimate rooms.