PERSONALIZATION

Monograms, calligraphy and gold banding are all done by the same person: a porcelain decorator who has worked with the Maison for several years.

The monogram has a long history, with traces dating back to the Middle Ages on coats of arms and seals. During the Renaissance, it became an everyday ornament, embroidered on linens, engraved on silverware or painted on tableware. To design our own, we drew on L’Art du bijoutier (The Art of the Jeweler), an 18th-century treatise by the ornamentalist Jean-Henri Prosper Pouget, and chose one of its English roundhand alphabets as our reference.

This printing technique layers separate plates, one for each color, to build up the final pattern. Set on a water-soluble film, the decal can then be applied with precision, even on curved or hollow surfaces. Before firing, the pattern looks dull, covered by a protective film: it is the firing that brings out its brilliance.

We also use chromolithography to apply our letters, in gold or black, onto small porcelain plaques or directly onto certain pieces to add a first name. Each letter is placed one by one, meticulously, then fired again.

Less costly than hand painting, chromolithography ensures perfect consistency across the pieces of a collection. Over the years, other decorated pieces have been created this way, such as the Plume collection.

Whether the decoration is hand-painted or applied by chromolithography, a third firing is always needed to fix it permanently.