Samson

1845 · ref. 13985 — Paris 1845. Pen ink and watercolour. Good condition apart from some light soiling minor foxing and two small losses in the lower right side of the image. A few small brown stains scattered in the margins. A rare example of an original watercolour design for porcelain by the Samson factory of Paris. This finished design was intended as a reference source from which the porcelain painters could work using the design as a guide for the colours and image to be transformed from paper into fine porcelain. The French porcelain manufactory of Samson & Cie. was established by "Edmé Samson b. Paris 1810; d. Paris 1891 at 7 Rue Vendôme later Rue Béranger in Paris. The intention of the firm was to reproduce ceramics from museums and private collections and it claimed that all such reproductions would be distinctly marked to avoid confusion with the originals. In 1864 the factory was moved to Montreuil by Samson's son Emile Samson 1837-1913. The range of wares included copies of 18th-century porcelain from such factories as Sèvres Chelsea Meissen and Derby Chinese export-wares especially armorial wares decorated with famille rose colours and mugs decorated with the Fitzhugh pattern Delftware Iznikware maiolica and faience." Grove Dictionary of Art. unknown books