Enfilade

From the Call for Papers:

A Passion for Porcelain: Volume in Honour of Dame Rosalind Savill

The French Porcelain Society Journal, Volume 11

Proposals due by 1 April 2026; completed articles will be due by 1 October 2026

Vase à têtes d’éléphant, Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, ca. 1760, purchased by Louis XV in December 1760 (Waddesdon Manor, no. 3013; photo by Mike Fear).

The French Porcelain Society Journal is the leading academic, peer-reviewed English-language publication on European ceramics and their histories, illustrated in full colour. After celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024 with the publication of an issue focused on the work of twentieth-century scholars, collectors, and dealers who have contributed to advancing the study of European ceramics, the French Porcelain Society would like to honour the life and work of Dame Rosalind Savill (1951–2024), who served as President of the Society for 24 years, from 1999 until 2023. Dame Rosalind (‘Ros’) Savill was a leading expert in the production of the Vincennes/Sèvres factory during the eighteenth century and on Madame de Pompadour, one of the factory’s most prominent clients and advocates. Her internationally acclaimed research was published in The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain (1988)—the institution that she directed from 1992 until 2011—and in the more recent Everyday Rococo: Madame de Pompadour and Sèvres Porcelain (2021), as well as in articles and contributions to other books, catalogues, academic journals, and specialist publications such as The Burlington Magazine. Ros’s indefatigable thirst for knowledge was illustrated by her interest in other topics beyond that of French eighteenth-century porcelain, from music, horticulture and birds, to furniture and arms and armour. Above all, Ros’s passion for ceramics was communicated in any conversation with her, be it in front of a museum display or around the dinner table. The next issue of The French Porcelain Society Journal wants to commemorate that passion for European ceramics with contributions that can range from object-focused case studies to articles with an academic or historiographic approach to the subject.

Topics for consideration may include but are not limited to the following:
• Insights into the production of porcelain at the Vincennes/Sèvres factory and stories relating to its personnel, agents, and collectors during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
• New research on specific objects or groups of objects within the remit of European ceramics, with a particular interest in French eighteenth-century faience and porcelain productions
• Contributions to the study of European ceramic factories, their histories, establishment, running and, if appropriate, disappearance
• Research on collectors of European ceramics

Submissions in the first instance should be a summary of no more than 400 words, with a brief description of the argument, a historiography, and a note of the research tools and sources used. Articles must be original; we do not accept modified versions of articles published elsewhere electronically or in print. Please include a brief biography. Articles will be peer reviewed by the editorial board and the FPS Committee of academic and museum specialists. Submissions should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words in length excluding endnotes and a house style sheet will be provided. Up to 15 high-resolution images per article will be accepted. Authors are responsible for obtaining copyright clearance. Please send abstracts as an email attachment to the FPS Journal Editorial Board (fpsjournal@gmail.com) by 1 April 2026. If your abstract is accepted, articles and images will be due by 1 October 2026. Publication is provisional on satisfactory peer review.