Tag: Louis XVI

Louis XVI was one of the most astute monarchs concerning design and architecture before the French Revolution and fall of the ancien regime. I write about his design prowess often, and not just his skill at creating remarkable neoclassical architecture with the cadre of architectural talent he gathered around him but things as small as porcelain collections. Case in point is my post “My Porcelain Bucket List,” in which I highlight a dairy he built for his wife, Marie-Antoinette, called La Laiterie de la Reine at Rambouillet, a project he realized to entice the queen to one of his favorite hunting lodges.

The King commissioned the architecture, the sculpture and the furniture for the diary, and as a crowning touch, Louis XVI commissioned La Laiterie de la Reine Sèvres service, which was designed by the Queen’s bélvèdere Jean-Jacques Lagrenée, the artistic director of the Sèvres Manufactory at the time. Originally numbering 50 pieces, the designs were inspired by antique vases the King purchased in 1786 from Dominique Vivant-Denon’scollection. Though these vases were Greek, architects, artists and ceramists at the time referred to them as Etruscan. The gracefulness of these decorative items proves his talent for realizing greatness in design.