Pair of Swan Handled Vases Marked Sevres

Marks used by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres are all well documented and correspond to specific periods of time. Looped capital 'L' marks, the royal cipher of the king, are 18th century marks. Similarly shaped authentic marks would never have been applied to hard paste porcelain articles like the vases you see, but only onto soft paste. And they would have been applied by hand, not printed as the mark is that you see here.

Ignoring the mark, take a close look at the item. All artwork and gilding on true Sèvres porcelain, whether made of soft or hard paste, is extremely fine. From the making of the pure white porcelain ground, to final decoration and gilding, all decorative processes were sophisticated and strictly controlled. Gilding on antique Sevres is best described as sumptuous. It was built up in layers and has a distinct three-dimensional look. This means it should not be flat, but raised from the surface and easily felt with the fingers. These vases are decorative and they are pretty. But the gilding is flat, the facial motif they exhibit is distinctly odd and none of the other decoration is 'Sèvres' in quality, either.

Though you may need to look close to tell for sure, most specious items of this type were decorated with transfer designs, not hand painted. Ask yourself, honestly, does this item truly look old enough to be wearing an 18th century mark? Is it fit for presentation to royalty? To a king? The answer to each question is, no.

Remember, Sevres marks are among the most commonly faked marks on porcelain. In fact, porcelain factories have been making fake 'Sevres' products since the 1770’s. Hard paste examples of items bearing Sevres cipher marks which only should exist on soft paste forms - has never stopped since that time.

Item ID: 2007RP000244