Edmé Samson
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Porcelain manufacturing |
| Founded | 1845 in Paris, France |
| Founder | Edmé Samson |
| Defunct | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Paris (initially), later Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis , France |
| Products | Porcelain and pottery replicas of 18th-century European, Chinese, Japanese ceramics, Italian maiolica |
Edmé Samson (born in Paris, 1810; died in Paris, 1891), the founder of the porcelain company Samson, Edmé et Cie (frequently known as Samson Ceramics), gained recognition as an expert replicator—and potentially a forger—of porcelain and pottery. The company focused on producing high-quality replicas of 18th-century European, Chinese, and Japanese porcelain, along with earlier ceramic styles such as Italian maiolica.
Edmé Samson's ceramics
In the late 1830s, Samson started by manufacturing replacement pieces for existing services and sets. By 1845, he had founded Samson, Edmé et Cie at 7 Rue Vendôme (which was later renamed Rue Béranger) in Paris, with the goal of creating reproductions of ceramics found in museums and private collections. In 1871, the workshop moved to Montreuil in Seine-Saint-Denis under the leadership of Samson’s son, Emile Samson (1837–1913). The company drew heavily from, or directly replicated, designs from prominent European porcelain manufacturers.
Samson recreated 18th-century patterns originating from well-known factories such as Meissen, Sèvres, Chelsea, Worcester, and Royal Crown Derby. Throughout the 19th century, a robust collectors’ market for antique fine china encouraged Samson to replicate a diverse array of styles including Italian faience and maiolica, Persian ceramics, Hispano-Moresque pottery dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, FitzHugh-patterned plates, and wares inspired by Bernard Palissy. The firm also produced copies of early Qing dynasty Chinese porcelains in famille rose and famille verte palettes, along with Japanese Imari ceramics from Arita.
Samson Ceramics showcased their work at prestigious events such as the International Exposition of 1867 and the Exposition Universelle in 1889, cementing their reputation within the luxury ceramics sector.
Copyist or forger
Although Samson, Edmé et Cie asserted that their reproductions were clearly marked to prevent confusion with originals, many pieces have nonetheless been mistaken for authentic antiques.
A key difference was that the firm often used hard-paste porcelain for their copies, whereas many original items were crafted from soft-paste porcelain. Their glazes tended to be glossy and glass-like; however, forms were sometimes rigid or improperly proportioned, decoration appeared excessively heavy-handed, and color schemes were occasionally inaccurate—leading experts to characterize Samson’s work as zealous yet imperfect imitations.
Certain Samson reproductions have been distinguished only through anachronistic features. For example, some Meissen copies passed as genuine because the blue underglaze ‘Ss’ mark could be removed and substituted with fraudulent marks. An 1880 reproduction by Samson of a British East India Company armorial plate reveals evidence of attempted removal of the Samson mark. Furthermore, many replicas of Chelsea and Derby figures either lacked any marks or bore marks other than ‘Ss’.
The reasons behind the removal of Samson marks remain uncertain. Meanwhile, contemporaneous firms like Jacob Petit from Fontainebleau produced comparable reproductions. In Hungary, Herend created famille rose porcelains and armorial plates but employed impressed and painted marks that could not be erased.
Collector's items
Production by Samson, Edmé et Cie continued until 1969; their showroom inventory was auctioned at Christie's London in 1979. Presently, numerous Samson pieces are sought-after collectibles. Paradoxically, not every piece attributed to Samson is authentic—other Parisian workshops manufactured similar copies and often eliminated Samson marks to pass items off as originals. Some ceramics bearing the Samson name were actually produced by Herend in Hungary.