Ceramics, enamels and glass
Internationally renowned French 18th-century Vincennes/Sèvres collection. Meissen porcelain, including two white animal sculptures. Maiolica, Saint-Porchaire and Valencia earthenware. Limoges enamels by distinguished makers. Late 16th- to early 18th-century glass.
Waddesdon is renowned internationally for its significant collection of 18th-century French Vincennes and Sèvres porcelain. It includes some of the most iconic shapes of vases, decorated by the factory’s best painters, and three dinner services, one of which was made for Marie-Antoinette. Pieces by the German Meissen factory include two extraordinary life-size animal porcelain figures and a rare standing cup as well as a collection of small animal figures and useful wares.
The Bachelors’ Wing houses mainly 16th-century collections. Earthenware includes 50 pieces of Italian maiolica, an extremely rare 15th-century basil pot made in Valencia and a Saint-Porchaire footed bowl. Enamelled pieces made in Limoges are by the most distinguished craftsmen in this medium – Jean de Court, Pierre Raymond and Léonard Limosin. Glass from Europe’s principal centres of production – Italy, Bohemia and southern Germany – from the late 16th to the early 18th century, complete the collection.