Boasting 50,000 sheets and works, the graphic arts collection has been intimately linked to the Manufacture’s history ever since its creation. Illustrating nearly 35,000 forms, motifs and designs and including some 10,000 prints and numerous photographs, the collection serves as an important source of interpretation and inspiration.
The graphic arts collection constitutes an essential element of the institution’s history, conserving the projects, forms and motifs, from 1740 to the present day, that have ever furnished the Manufacture’s workshops with models for the creation of porcelain forms and designs. This precious treasure trove of traditions, skills and know-how testifies to the great variety and eclecticism of Sèvres’ production. The collection can be consulted and studied via the online Joconde database, portal to the collections of the Musées de France, thanks to funding by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation that assisted Sèvres in its vast project of digitalizing its countless drafts and drawings.
Sèvres’ graphic arts room also welcomes researches (by appointment).
Assiette du service Olympique, Alexandre Théodore Brogniart, Manufacture de Sèvres, 1806 - Sèvres © M. de Giovanni, B. Chain-Le Studio Numérique
Projet de décor pour un vase de la laiterie de Rambouillet, Jean-Jacques Lagrenée dit le jeune. 2e moitié du XVIIIe siècle, gouache, plume sur papier. Collection Sèvres - Cité de la céramique - (c) Sèvres - Cité de la céramique
As part of its public service mission, the Documentary Collections Department considers all proposed donations of works, catalogues and archives dealing with ceramics and glass. It regularly enriches its collections of images and illustrations, and is actively searching for views of Sèvres, its workshops and the museum.
Reading room open to the public by appointment :
Mondays & Wednesdays, from 10 AM to 12:30 PM and from 1:30 to 4:45 PM.
Thursdays, from 1:30 to 4:45 PM for the graphic arts.