porcelain

European, Chinese and Japanese porcelain

The production of porcelain, the subject of all covetousness since the Middle Ages, was for a long time unknown to the West. The princes and crowned heads of Europe took advantage of trade with the Far East to obtain the most beautiful Chinese porcelain - whose secret was closely guarded. The experiments of Saint-Cloud, Chantilly, Vincennes, but especially those of Meissen and Sèvres in the 18th century led to the discovery of kaolin, which marked the birth of a European history of porcelain.

Galerie Atena has a rich collection of antique porcelain, including pieces from Sèvres, Samson, Meissen, but also small vases from Satsuma or the "famille rose", which testify to this eventful history and ongoing exchanges with the Asian continent. It includes tea and coffee services in Paris porcelain, vases mounted as lamps, vases in biscuit with antique decor, Rocaille clocks, inkwells, Dagoty table tops, cups decorated with mythological scenes, Medici vases with large cartouches decorated with landscapes or bucolic scenes. Gallant couples, country scenes, mythological characters, landscapes, bouquets of flowers or musical attributes decorate these objects in hard or soft porcelain. Clocks and decorative porcelain objects signed Jacob Petit or Gustave Asch complete this exceptional collection of 18th and 19th century porcelain.