Longing for Sevres Porcelain In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Sevres, the leading European porcelain manufactory, was renowned among Japanese potters of the time. However, Sevres ware was so expensive that the Japanese secretariat exchanged as many as sixty-nine pieces of early Japanese ceramics for a pair of large Sevres jars at the 1878 World's Fair in Paris. Kyoto-ware potters of the Meiji period, apparently influenced by Sevres ware, also produced Western-style tableware and decorative jars with gold paint on lapis lazuli-colored ground using decorative techniques for which Sevres was renowned. Decorative azure-blue lugged jars with figures in overglazed enamels and gold paint Sevres factory, France Tokyo National Museum