At the beginning of the 18th century, the French court of Louis XV was at the forefront of European fashion. French paintings, furniture, architecture, and room decor were adopted throughout the continent, and new ceramic forms, along with pastel colors and delicate floral patterns, began to replace the bolder dense designs of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The town of Alcora in the kingdom of Valencia became the center for production of Spanish ceramics in the French style.