France's Gien clears tradition from the table

And for the best families, only the glazed earthenware made in a factory in this town on the banks of the Loire River would do. The crockery, known as faience, was as much a discreet symbol of prestige and good taste in an aristocratic family as having "de" before a last name or a signet ring with the family crest passed down to a son when he turned 18.

But for the last few decades, the faience of Gien has also become a symbol of a lifestyle that is a vanishing art. Modern life just doesn't call for a dinner service that comes with 14 matching platters and covered tureens for soup, vegetables and sauces.

France still has more secondary homes than any other country in Europe, and by enforcing labor laws and federally mandated holidays, the French state makes sure people still have plenty of time to spend in the countryside. But while the grandes familles with their grandes maisons still have their land and titles, their wealth has been dwindling, and businesses they supported, from live-in tutors to handmade wallpaper, are diminished.

Sandrine Penzo, a 38-year-old manager at the Gien factory, recalls a recent Sunday lunch at a friend's country home where instead of laying out the meat on platters and vegetables in bowls, the hosts served each guest the entire meal on a single plate -- and a forgettable one at that.

"In the past, families not only had a special place to keep dishes but also people in the kitchen taking care of them," she said. "Now few have such luxuries."

Established in 1821, the factory here has managed to survive the Industrial Revolution, two world wars, floods, fires and a series of owners, including a politician in Paris who ran it into bankruptcy.

Now new owners are trying to reinvent Gien for a generation that is willing to jettison the family china for something trendy and thinks nothing of pushing grandma's old pattern to the back of the sideboard to make room for 6-euro (about $9.35) plates from IKEA.