Edmé Samson
Edmé Samson (b Paris, 1810; d Paris, 1891), founder of the
Edme Samson's ceramics
Samson began his career by making service and set piece replacements in the late 1830s. In 1845 he opened the ceramics firm Samson, Edmé et Cie at 7, Rue Vendôme (later Rue Béranger) in Paris, with the intention of supplying reproductions of ceramics on display in
During the 19th century, the collectors' market for antique
Copyist or forger
Samson, Edmé et Cie did not set out to produce copies with the intention to deceive, and claimed all reproductions the firm produced would be distinctly marked to avoid confusion with the originals.[3] However, many of its products have been passed off as originals.[citation needed]
The Samson firm, in many instances, attempted to distinguish their reproductions from originals. The Samson wares were produced in hard-paste porcelain, while many of the originals would have been produced from soft-paste porcelain. The
On the other hand, some Samson reproductions have only been detected by recognition of
It is impossible to determine when, by whom, and for what reason the Samson marks might have been removed. However, during the same period, other companies, such as Jacob Petit of Fontainebleau, were producing reproductions similar to those created by the Samson firm. In
Collector's items
The Samson, Edmé et Cie company continued to produce porcelain and pottery until 1969. The salesroom models were sold in 1979 by Christie's, London.[4] Today many of the Samson’s pieces are collectors’ items.[2] Ironically not all pieces attributed to Samson are actually Samson: there were many other Paris workshops producing similar 'copies' of earlier ceramics at the same time. Many Samson marks were removed from the piece, leaving just the assumed mark of the piece they had copied; often this is visible as a ground patch to the base. This was done in order to sell the item as the genuine article. Some pieces described as Samson were actually produced by Herend, Hungary.
References
- ^ a b c d Grove Art Library: Edmé Samson
- ^ a b c d e f Edmé Samson: copyist or forger? Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine Buenos Aires Herald
- ^ Slitine, Florence (2002). Samson génie de l'imitation. Paris: Charles Massin, 2002. pp. 9–17.
- ^ Samson Porcelain: Original Factory Models from the Showroom of Etablissement Edme Samson, Christie's London.