The production of colored earthenware began in Rouen in the 16th century in the workshop of Masséot Abaquesne, considered today as the first French earthenware maker. When his workshop closed, the activity stopped for more than half a century. Relaunched in 1644, the production of high-fired earthenware in Rouen flourished in the 18th century, stimulated by the competition with the numerous factories on the left bank of the Seine.
Influenced by the great centers of Nevers and Delft, Rouen's faience was able to free itself from the models and develop its own decorative compositions. If the radiating decorations with lambrequins, in blue and then blue and red monochrome ensured its fame, the sparkling chinoiseries, the fantasy of the horn decoration of the rocaille period give Rouen the image of a joyful, elegant earthenware of a rare inventiveness.
This book, which brings together the different aspects of this manufacture, is a guide to better recognize a Rouen earthenware.
