The CIEPand itshistory

The CIEPand itshistory

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The buildings that house the CIEP date from the middleof the 18th century and from the outside, they lookexactly the same today as they did then.

In 1756, on the initiative of Madame de Pompadour,Louis XV commissioned the construction of the RoyalSèvres Porcelain Factory.

Up until 1876, when it was transferred to the banks ofthe Seine, it successfully managed to come through thecenturies and political changes unscathed.

From the end of the 19th century up until 1940, the buil-dings were home to the women’s teacher training college(École Normale Supérieure). This institution notablyenabled Marie Curie to teach physics to young girls.

In 1945, the international pedagogical research centre(Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques, CIEP) tookover from the École Normale Supérieure.

In a nutshell

A few key dates

1756 – 1876Royal SèvresPorcelain Factory

1881 – 1940École NormaleSupérieurefor young girls

1945 – to dateCentre internationald’études pédagogiques

Royal Sèvres Porcelain Factory

École Normale Supérieurefor young girls

Centre internationald’études pédagogiques

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Between Paris and Versailles The building nestles in the Sèvres valley between Parisand Versailles. To go from the Louvre to Versailles, it wasnecessary to pass through the market town of Auteuil upto the Boulogne plain, before going on to the Seine loop.Carriages took the bridge, crossing the Ile Dauphine. Fromthe bridge, it was possible to make out Brimborion and itsportico of greenery, which went on as far as Meudon.Beyond the hills and terraces, rose the Château deBellevue, the residence of Madame de Pompadour. Lookingout over the town of Sèvres, at the foot of the château, wasthe Verrerie glassworks and the silhouette of an austereresidence, Guyarde farm.

Running alongside the Bellevue track, the Guyarde estateextended as far as the Route de Versailles. Between thesetwo roads, the lands included a small valley, at the bottomof which ran a brook, the Marivel.

Royal Porcelain Factory,Constant Troyon (1826)

Map of the area circa 1780

View of Château de Bellevue,Jean-Baptiste Rigaud

Map of knight Lespinasse (1779)

Plans for the building of the factory (1753)

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The buildingThe building is 130-metres long and four-storeys high,with a classical layout. The central pavilion is raised, witheaves upstairs, a sculpture-free pediment decorated withthe clock from the former Royal Glassworks. The ends ofthe façade are completed with two corner pavilions.

The central pavilion is preceded by a so-called publiccourtyard, surrounded by wrought iron railings. Opposite,a large semicircle area is set out for parking the carriagesof guests.

Royal Porcelain Factory, Michallon (aqua fortis)

View of the factory from the gardens

The ground floor was used to store the stocks of clay, logs andraw materials.

The first floor housed the “plastering, sculpting and engraving”workshops. A long corridor enabled workers to circulatebetween the various departments and kilns, dominated to thesouth by a terrace.

The sculptors, turners, repairers and decorators worked onthe second floor.

Above them, under the sun-bathed eaves, worked the painters,gilders, wildlife artists and figurine sculptors.

Historical motifsby César Daly, railing 1888

Main entrance When the Marquise de Pompadour received King LouisXV’s approval to transfer the Royal Porcelain Factory fromVincennes to Sèvres, she chose the Guyarde farm, an estatelocated not far from her Château de Bellevue.

This farm was entirely demolished in order to enable thecurrent buildings to be built by the architect Lindetbetween 1753 and 1756.

Facing the Grande Rue de Sèvres was the main entrance,preceded by a courtyard, closed off by high wrought ironrailings.

In a loggia, which cannot be seen today, to the right of thelobby, was a gatekeeper in royal livery, a bona fide guardwho ensured that no strangers were able to get into therooms where the items were produced and decorated.

Main entrance

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Madame de Pompadour - 1721-1764

The Marquise de Pompadour, born JeanneAntoinette Poisson, was a woman ofexceptional taste who was a patron of thewriters and artists of her time.

After becoming the King's favourite, she was also his adviser.Very early on, she became interested in the production ofporcelain. Smitten with the Factory’s fine productions —flowers, figurines, small decorated vases — she decoratedall the drawing rooms in her residences with them.

They even created the Pompadour pink shade especiallyfor her.

Statement of advances made by Mr. de Verdun,one of the parties interested in the RoyalPorcelain Factory, concerning the acquisition ofChâteau de la Guyarde, the intended locationof the future Sèvres factory.

Alexandre Brongniart presents the factory's productions to Louis XVIII, Charles Develly (1816-1819)

The two staircasesTwo staircases, which can still be seen today alongside oneanother, led off from the main entrance, with one leadingto the second floor exhibition and sales area, the so-calledGrand Library, and the other leading up to the attics, wherethe very bright artist workshops were located.

The grand staircase was naturally the one for customers.Brightened up with windows on the outside, it did not offerany view or any door into the building’s interior: in thisway, the manufacturing secrets of products were protected.

The Factory’s wealthy customers took this staircaseto access the shop.

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On the whole, the workers were satisfied with their lot.They were not paid particularly well, but appreciated thesafety of their jobs. They enjoyed privileges that werewidely envied, but had to meet very stringent obligations,set under royal decrees. Indeed, they could not "leave theFactory” without six months notice and unless they hadobtained written permission, signed by the director, onpain of a 500 pound fine”. Lastly, they were forbiddenfrom “working through their art in another porcelainfactory, on pain of a 1000 pound fine and even stifferpenalties if they failed to meet this payment”.

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Under the protectorate of King Louis XV,the Vincennes factory became the“ROYAL SÈVRES FACTORY”, whosethousands of items are each marked ontheir base with a letter corresponding to

the year of production, placed at the centre of the twointerlaced “Ls” (the King’s monogram). This alphabeticalmarking began with an “A” in 1753. After a “Z” for 1777, theletters were doubled up until 1793.

Porcelain production is a Chinese invention and can be tracedback to the 10th century. Its quality was notably due to thewhite clay known as kao(high) – ling (hill) in Chinese.

“As blue as the sky, as thin as paper,as shiny as a mirror”

During the first few years, only softporcelain was produced, an artificial

material discovered in Florence in the 16thcentury, which had one main defect: it scratched easily.Böttger, a chemist from Saxony, is said to have discoveredthe secret to hard Chinese porcelain by chance in 1705:lifting his wig one day and finding it to be heavier than usual,he learnt that his servant had powdered it with a substancefrom the area near to Aüe. This turned out to be similar toChinese kaolin. The secret of Saxony was very closelyguarded and was not known in France until 1763 thanks towork carried out in Sèvres by Pierre-Antoine Hannong.It was only with the discovery of the Saint-Yrieix kaolinquarries near to Limoges in 1767, that the chemist andacademic Pierre-Joseph Macquer was able to produce aremarkably hard porcelain in Sèvres from 1769 onwards.

The secretto hard porcelain

Pompadour potpourri

Hard porcelain This is considered to be the genuineporcelain, made up primarily ofkaolin. Based on the principle ofMeissen porcelain (Saxony), thesecret of its makeup was bought by theSèvres factory from Pierre AntoineHannong in 1763 and used from1769 onwards. Developed byPierre Joseph Macquer, itowes its existence to thediscovery of the Saint-Yrieixkaolin in 1767. Its highkaolin content (70%) givesthe cooked paste a white colourthat is full, luxuriant andgenerous, with a hint of warmtones.

“Sèvres blue” is a cobalt blue, known as RoyalBlue in the 18th century, develo-ped on hard porcelain between1770 and 1775.

Love caressing beauty,played out in fidelity (1796)

BiscuitThis refers to a white unglazed porcelain,with a look of marble, used by severalEuropean factories towards the middleof the 18th century for the productionof statuettes, generally inspired fromclassical models. In the second half of thecentury, in France, widespread use wasmade of biscuit porcelain for delicatecompositions portraying gallant andpastoral scenes.

The fearful one by Boizot (1789)

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A sculptor and academic, Falconet gave anew lease of life to creations sculpted usingthe soft porcelain biscuit techniquedeveloped by the Factory’s craftsmen andwomen. Boucher’s influence is clear inthese sculptures.

Louis Réau wrote that: “the modelssculpted by the artist represent a sculptedjournal of theatre and fashion between1756 and 1766 and are definitely the mostevocative pieces documenting Parisian lifeat the time of Louis XV”.

Étienne-Maurice Falconet - 1716-1791

The nymph,by Falconet (1761)

The exhibition room, whichbecame the Grand LibraryThe exhibition room and shop was a drawing room withsculpted solid wood doors, crowned with garlands, framingthe King's medallion and the coat of arms of France.

Madame de Pompadour often came in herself to sell theitems produced by the factory, which she was sponsoring.

The works were exhibited in display cabinets, with theexception of recent creations, which were put to one sidein a special reserve for Louis XV. The most well-knownartist was Étienne Falconet (1716-1791), whom theMarquise de Pompadour entrusted with overseeing thesculpture workshops in 1757. It is no doubt to this artist,who composed all the subjects, including numerous biscuitmodels, with Bachelier, responsible for decoration, andDuplessis, responsible for form tops, that the Factory owesits development and reputation.

Historical motifsby César Daly(Louis XV style,museum display cabinet)

Léda by Falconetaccording to Boucher (1764)

Analytical dictionaryor encyclopaediaof the sciences,arts and crafts(1769 edition)

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The Lulli PavilionOf the former Guyarde estate — which was the countryhouse of the musician Lulli in the 17th century – the onlytrace that remains is the square pavilion that dominates thegrand courtyard and whose staircases open out on to thegarden.

The sales deed from 1750 mentions a “square pavilioncovered with slates”, referred to as “The Opera”. In previousdeeds, it is referred to as “The Chapel”.

In 1756, the pavilion was used as a water tower. It remainedin the same state at the time when Madame de Pompadourchose to set up the Factory on this estate.

Historical motifsby César Daly,Lulli Pavilion

Impromptu entertainment

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The place known as the “King’s porcelain

honeycomb”: paved road opposite the royal

gateway. This is where the revolutionary

celebrations took place.

Charles Develly, (1838)

The “guardroom”The King's apartments were located in the corner of thebuilding, to the east of the grand courtyard. From hisdrawing room, the king could get to the workshops using astaircase reserved solely for his use or go directly to theroom in which recent creations were set aside for him.

The same section of the building also houses what wasknown as the “guardroom”, where associates and artistscould wait for the King. To the left, according to the Dukeof Luynes, was a chapel, the altar of which could be seenfrom all the rooms in the King's apartments. Theguardroom opened up on to the grand entrance, a largepaved courtyard closed off by the “King’s gateway”.

On the 16th of Brumaire Year II*,a people’s company was createdby most of the Factory’s artistsand workers, overseen byBattelier. Assemblies were heldin the guardroom; the “King’scourtyard" became the “Equalitycourtyard”.

* (November 6, 1793)

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The King's courtyardA gateway flanked by two small pavilions, near whichthere was a gatekeeper dressed in royal livery at all times,with a wall running parallel to the front of the mainbuilding, sealing off the King's courtyard.

This opened up on to the Bellevue road and carriages couldeasily manoeuvre within it. It is decorated with a fountain,created by Adam, whom Madame de Pompadour hademployed to decorate her Bellevue château.

View of the Sèvres Factory, sketch by de F. Thorigny

Front of the Royal courtyard

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Grand courtyard

The grand courtyardThe current grand courtyard, located on the second floor,used to be known as the terrace since it was higher thanthe entrance.At the time, it housed various buildings: kilns used for thefiring of items, hangars, stores, etc.

In 1853, a few cases of settlement were noticed in the mainbuildings. An enquiry was opened by Fould, the Emperor'sHousing Minister.

Former factory builtin 1753,

J. Devicque

Alexandre Brongniart - 1770-1847

French scholar - physician, doctor, chemist,mineralogist, zoologist, geologist, palaeontologist.The Sèvres Factory administrator (1800-1847),he wrote the famous ceramic arts treatise,

published in 1844. He also drew up a catalogue of the works of theceramics museum, which he set up in 1824. This establishmentgrouped together an extraordinary collection of ceramic objects fromall periods and all sources.

The official architects recommended transferring thefactory to another location. However, strong props wereput in place in 1868 and the Factory only moved to thebanks of the Seine in 1876. The buildings which wereabandoned, then hastily renovated, were home to the firstteaching college for young girls a few years later.

The Sèvres Factory, located next to the ceramics museum,has continued to produce its porcelain pastes and enamelsthrough to today.

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At the time of the ÉcoleNormale Supérieure teachertraining collegeIn 1880, a bill was put forward by Camille Sée, opening upsecondary education to young girls. It called for thecreation of a school intended to train women teachers andJules Ferry chose to open such a school in Sèvres. CharlesLe Cœur and his son François were successively

responsible for modernising andadapting the buildings, whilemaintaining their historical style.

Getting the premises into a suitablestate took a considerable amountof work, spread over several years.When the École Normale

Supérieure was set up in 1881, the grand courtyard wasstill filled with buildings from the former Factory beingdemolished.

Camille-Salomon Sée - 1847-1919

Convinced of the need for equality in terms ofeducation for young people, girls and boys alike,Camille Sée embarked on a fierce parliamentarybattle. On October 28, 1878, he filed a bill with the

Chamber seeking to organise secondary education for young girlsnationwide. Despite strong opposition by the conservatives, the “SéeLaw” triumphed and was officially adopted by the Senate onDecember 21, 1880. It was supplemented by the law of July 29, 1881setting up the École Normale des Professeurs-Femmes in Sèvres.Shortly after, secondary schools were created for young girls in France.

Madame Jules Favreand the first graduates, 1881

École Normale Supérieureteacher training college The model was based on the Normalschule systemin Germany, where the concept of norms is fundamental:these were schools that had to set the example for the rest.

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The laboratoryLucien Poincaré, a physics teacher (1894-1900), carriedout a highly active campaign for experimental education.His successors, Mr. Langevin (1906-1931), Mr. Perrin(1900-1930) and of course, Mrs. Curie (1900-1906), pavedthe way for considerable developments in the teaching ofphysics. Marie Curie had just discovered radium when shewas appointed at Sèvres. She immediately became attachedto the school, where she notably introduced practical work.

Her laboratory was on the second floor of the building andshe regularly came to give two lectures of an hour and ahalf each. She often turned up laden with parcels: smallimprovised pieces of equipment that she immediately usedwith her students.

The school’s new laboratory

Marie Curie-Sklodowska - 1867-1934She left Poland in 1891 to study physics at the

Sorbonne. She met Pierre Curie in 1894 and

they married a year later. In 1898, with her

husband, she announced the discovery of two

new elements: polonium and radium. In 1903, Pierre and Marie

received the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1911, her work on radium

and its compounds won Marie the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In 1914, she set up the Institut du Radium, then was involved in

founding the Institut Curie. She died of leukaemia as a result of

overexposure to radiation.

Chemistry experiments in 1928

Physics experimentsin 1928

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Life at theÉcole Normale SupérieureThe Sèvres students woke up at half past five during thesummer and half past six in the winter. There was not anyheating in the rooms. Oil lamps had been replaced by gaslamps that were lit up in the corridors and marked thecurfew or wakeup call with the sounds of their explosions.Outside of class times, the pupils had to work in the studyrooms. The following response was given to a requestfor blinds for south-facing rooms: “if the instructions givenby the head teacher are observed, the pupils will beworking all day in the classrooms or study rooms and thereis no reason whatsoever to protect them against the sunin rooms where they will only need to spend their nights”.

Student in a secondaryclass, secondary school

The refectory

Pupils assembled in the library forthe new-year session, October 16, 1931

A pupil’s room in 1884

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The Japanese gardenHowever, the Sèvres students were able to enjoy the plea-sures of a wonderful Japanese garden, offered to theschool in 1925 by Albert Kahn. A banker and patron of thearts, he had set himself the mission to reconcile the peo-ples of the world by promoting encounters and exchanges.Up until his death in 1929, he continued to fund photogra-phy campaigns intended to supply funds for the “Archivesof the Planet”, headed by Jean Brunhes, the person wholaunched human geography in France. The Espace AlbertKahn in Boulogne presents the patron’s collections andoffers visitors the opportunity to enjoy walking through avariety of gardens one after the other (French, English,Japanese, blue forest, etc.) crossing the estate.

Japanese garden seen

by Mrs. Ling Su Hua, 1947

Albert Kahn - 1860-1940

Banker, philanthropist, patron ofthe arts, anthropologist andidealist, Albert Kahn wanted to be

able to lay the foundations for universal peace byworking for international communication andcooperation. He developed a range of projects:“Around the World” travel grants, “Around theWorld” society, national committee for political andsocial research, documentation centre, publication ofperiodicals.

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The CIEP todayIn spring 1945, the international pedagogical researchcentre (Centre international d’Etudes Pédagogiques, CIEP)was set up in the Sèvres secondary school for girls in orderto contribute to the reform of secondary education inFrance, notably with a view to teacher training for newclasses. It was responsible for organising "universityexchanges during which foreign teachers were introducedto French education methods and French professors wereable to learn about foreign experiences”. Indeed, after theend of the Second World War, the Centre was set up in linewith a firm conviction: the need to establish and maintainties with other countries. The very purpose of the Centrewas already closely linked to research on more activeteaching methods and the effort to be made in order tobetter know, and therefore better understand, foreigneducational contexts.

French as a foreign language progressively became aspecific discipline. At the same time, the concept ofexchanges between countries evolved in light of a new fieldof investigation opening up: the analysis and comparisonof educational systems.

Hungarian students observing a class

Creation of the CIEP in 1945

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Key changesThe CIEP’s administrative organisation had beenundecided for some time, reflecting the experimental andevolutionary nature of its missions.

Founded in 1945 as an external department of the Ministryof Education, it was linked to the Sèvres secondary schoolin 1948 before being incorporated into the nationalpedagogical documentation centre (Centre National deDocumentation Pédagogique, CNDP) in 1950. In 1970,the CIEP was transferred to the national institute forpedagogical research (Institut National de RecherchePédagogique, INRP), which it was linked to in 1976following a decree, which was cancelled the following year.For 10 years, the CIEP was without any legal basis.

On May 12, 1987, by decree, the CIEP was established as anational public administrative institution, under thesupervision of the Ministry of Education. Built in line witha dual vocation as both a training centre and a centre ofexcellence, the CIEP contributed to the implementation ofthe international policy.

With its status as an independent public institution, theCIEP’s missions can be defined as follows:

- contributing to the implementation of cooperationprogrammes in education,

- providing training and improving the skillsof education specialists for French as a foreignlanguage,

- contributing to the development of educationwith an international outlook in both France andabroad.

The secondary school's exit

The audiovisual department

Decree of 1987

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Xavier Darcos - Minister of Statefor School Educationand Albert Prévos - Head of the CIEP

2003: an objective-basedcontract In July 2003, the CIEP was the first public institution toconclude an objective-based contract with the FrenchMinistry of Education. Signed by Xavier Darcos, theMinister of State for School Education, and Albert Prévos,head of the CIEP, this agreement set out the main strategicdirections for the institution for a three-year period andspecified the role of the CIEP within the ministry'sinternational cooperation system.From 2003 to 2005, two main strategic goals were targeted:developing expertise and training activities and supportingthe quality of the CIEP’s missions.This contractualisation process was consolidated throughthe creation of a liaison committee, including all of theministry's departments, notably the general inspectoratefor national education, the financial affairs department,and the international relations and cooperationdepartment.

This objective-based contract defines the CIEP’s currentmissions focusing on two areas of activity:

- languages, Frenchas a foreign languageand foreign languagesin France

- education, educationalengineering and internationalcooperation.

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Two areas of activity

Languages, with three sectors for intervention:

- a French language section, offering training courses,expertise and a review of French as a foreign or secondlanguage, both abroad and in France.

- an assessment and certification section, responsiblefor the pedagogical and administrative management anddesign of diplomas for foreign people at the FrenchMinistry of Education, the French language certificate(diplôme d’étude de langue française, DELF) and thein-depth French language certificate (diplôme approfondien langue française, DALF). It is also responsible formanaging the French proficiency test (Test deconnaissance du français, TCF).

- a foreign language section, contributing to thedevelopment of multilingualism in France, managingvarious programmes on behalf of the ministry: exchangesfor language assistants, teachers, linguistic placements,etc. It is also responsible for developing and designingtools such as the “PrimLangues” Internet site (support forprimary school language teaching) or the “Emilangues”site to support the European and Oriental sections.

In the field of education, the CIEP acts as a turnkeyoperator for French skills in order to meet the demands ofeducational engineering.

It provides French technical assistance on projectsto develop and restructure educational systems indeveloping countries.

It responds to multilateral invitations to tender launchedby the European Union, the World Bank and regionaldevelopment banks in the field of education and training.

It designs and organises training courses for staffsupervising foreign education systems.

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The document resourcecentre (Centre de RessourcesDocumentaires, CRD)Specialised in language training and the latestdevelopments in French and foreign education systems,the CRD is accompanying this research process. Drawingon some 20,000 works, it keeps track of emergingeducational issues and offers a bibliographical databaseand publications that can be accessed online.

The Revue internationaled’éducation de SèvresThe CIEP publishes the Revue internationale d’éducationde Sèvres. Reflecting the key issues in education, thispublication invites French and foreign experts to give theirthoughts on their own education systems and put theminto perspective.Each issue includes a special report, presentations ofeducation systems, selective bibliographies and onlineresources.

Place for exchangesand encountersIn touch with over 150 countries, the CIEP organises semi-nars and conferences. With various partners – the WorldBank, UNESCO, the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs – it conducts reviews looking into current educationalissues.

Within a historical and verdant framework, the CIEPoffers a high-quality infrastructure for welcoming andaccommodating participants (around 100 bedrooms, twodining rooms, etc.) for conferences and seminars held byFrench foreign and international institutions operating inthe field of education.

In turn a factory, school and laboratory for ideas, the siteremains marked by invention and innovation.

Photographic credits

P 4 H, 6 Hd B / 7H B, 9 B, 10 H M, 14 B, 16 H, 17 B, 22 H B© archives de la Manufacture de Sèvres.

P 4 Bd Bg / 5 H, 9H, 11Hd Hg, 12 / 13 H, 14 / 15 B, 16 M B,18 H / 19 B, 21, 23 Hd Hg, 23 B, 25 M / 26, 31 B, 33 H,34 B, 35 H, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42 © CIEP

P 5 B, 6 M, 20 © Sèvres en Île de France

P 11 B, 17 H, 18, 19 H, 24 B, 25 H B, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32 H,36 H © Le cinquantenaire de l’École Normale Supérieure

P 23 – 24, 24 H © musée de la céramique de Sèvres

P 31 H © Une demeure, une femme

P 33 B © Lycée de Sèvres 1921-1991

P 36 B © Le livre du cinquantenaire 1945-1995

Bibliography

Le cinquantenaire de l’École Normale Supérieure de Sèvres1881-1931, ouvrage collectif, Paris, 1932

PORTET Mariette, Sèvres en Île de France,La nef de Paris éditions, 1963

Une demeure une femme : le CIEP de 1945 à 1966,Les éditions ESF, 1971

Dix ans de pédagogie Sèvres 1967-1977,Les Amis de Sèvres, 1977

École normale supérieure, le livre du bicentenaire,PUF, 1994.

Falconet à Sèvres, 1754-1766, ou l’art de plaire,Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2001

SALMON Xavier, Madame de Pompadour et les arts,Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2002

LEVER Évelyne, Madame de Pompadour, Perrin, 2003

GIROUD Françoise, Une femme honorable, Hachette, 2003

Centre international d’études pédagogiquesService de la communication

1, avenue Léon-Journault92318 Sèvres Cedex

Publication editor: Albert Prévos

Printing: DelcambreCopyrighting: September 2005ISBN: 2-11-095731-X

Thanks to

Annick LederléJérôme Champlois

Centre international d’études pédagogiques

1, avenue Léon-Journault 92318 Sèvres Cedex

Internet site: www.ciep.fr