The Easel

14th October 2025

The sublime and silly art of Sèvres

Rachel Hunter Himes | Apollo | 9th October 2025

China had a monopoly on fine, durable porcelain until around 1710 when Meissen cracked its secrets. Sèvres was close behind. To secure Sèvres’ know-how, Louis XV made it a royal enterprise and it has since become a byword for refined taste. Curators regard its high-end pieces as sculpture – no surprise given that they were intended for the tables of imperial clients. These were items of exquisite taste as well as a projection of French state power. Eye candy of the highest order. More images are here.

Inside the V&A’s Marie Antionette Style with curator Dr Sarah Grant

Staff | The Cultivist | 20th September 2025

A show about Marie Antionette’s legacy is probably more culture than art. Joining the French court aged 14, dress was one way for her to project “feminine power”. The few pieces of original fabric that survive, together with reconstructed dresses, signal that this was a life of performance. Muses one writer, what carries most impact is less the eye-popping jewellery than an appreciation of Antoinette’s very human dilemma. She was being set up, and we, “caught up in looking … [are unwittingly] a part of a mob.”

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