Her task is made more difficult by her French heritage. Once at the Works, Genevieve finds that security is very tight. This blue will revolutionize the porcelain market and bring great wealth to those who can produce the most porcelain with this colour. By promising her a new life in Venice studying art, he lures Genevieve into his scheme to steal the formula of a blue under development at the Derby Porcelain Works. Her request is denied but her conversation is overheard by the charismatic Sir Gabriel Courtenay.Ĭourtenay is a man with an obsession of his own - porcelain and the perfect shade of blue to decorate it. Not happy at the prospect of leaving London for a new position as a porcelain decorator at the Derby Porcelain Works, Genevieve approaches one of the famous artists of the time asking to be apprenticed to him.

Her ambition, which she concedes is an impossible one for a woman, is to become a renowned artist. Genevieve Planché, granddaughter of a Huguenot artist, paints flowers on silk for a living. With the heart and spirit of her Huguenot ancestors, Genevieve faces her challenges head on, but how much is she willing to suffer in pursuit and protection of the colour blue? The ensuing events take Genevieve deep into England’s emerging industrial heartlands, where not only does she learn about porcelain, but also about the art of industrial espionage.

But in particular, she must learn the secrets of the colour blue… When Genevieve meets the charming Sir Gabriel Courtenay, he offers her an opportunity she can’t refuse if she learns the secrets of porcelain, he will send her to Venice. She wants to be an artist, a painter of international repute, but nobody takes the idea of a female artist seriously in London.

Kings do battle with knights and knaves for possession of the finest pieces and the secrets of their manufacture.įor Genevieve Planché, an English-born descendant of Huguenot refugees, porcelain holds far less allure In eighteenth century London, porcelain is the most seductive of commodities fortunes are made and lost upon it.

The tapestry a novel nancy bilyeau