Discovering the Secrets of Soft-Paste Porcelain at The Saint-Cloud Manufactory, ca. 1690-1766

The Bard Graduate Center Gallery produces multiple exhibitions and publications each year, serving as a vital center of learning and a catalyst for engagement in the interrelated disciplines of decorative arts, design, and material culture. The gallery is celebrated in the museum world for its longstanding legacy of landmark projects dedicated to significant—yet often understudied—figures and movements in the history of decorative arts and design; these exhibitions and publications typically represent the definitive intervention on the artists and objects they investigate. BGC Gallery is also committed to generating and supporting a vast range of diverse presentations, small and large, that challenge traditional approaches to object inquiry; these examinations of material culture explore the human experience as manifest in our creation and use of “things” of all kinds. Whether originating in internal research and expertise, or in collaboration with external subject specialists, these endeavors prioritize rigorous scholarship while seeking to adhere to the field’s highest standards in production and design.

The Saint-Cloud porcelain manufacture in France holds a unique position in the history of European porcelain: it was the first in Europe to discover the secret of producing soft-paste porcelain, thereby breaking the monopoly of China and Japan and playing a seminal role in the development of porcelain production in Europe.

The exhibition and the accompanying publication document the manufacture’s production and traces its technical and stylistic evolution, celebrates one of France’s enduring contributions to the decorative arts and culture of Europe.   The book features ten essays by leading scholars of French porcelain that examine not only the history of the Saint-Cloud manufacture but also its influence, aesthetics, patronage, and reception. The essays are supplemented by reproductions of some 250 examples of Saint-Cloud porcelain from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, and other museums around the world, along with documentation for each one. The book also includes examples of contemporary works of faience from Delft, porcelain imported from China, and related paintings and works on paper that provide a broader context in which to consider the works produced at Saint-Cloud.

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