Style Art Nouveau / Ref.12204

Large pink and green earthenware planter with plant decoration

This large pink and green earthenware planter is decorated in the centre with a medallion surrounded by scrolls and acanthus leaves, with two horizontal bands surrounded by a plant decoration of large leaves and flowers. Two bands of gadroons on three sides of the piece frame the central decoration, and are embellished with beehives in their corners.
The piece is made up of different separable parts, as earthenware pieces, which need to be fired at high temperatures in a kiln, must have volumes adapted to the kiln in which they are fired. Each part was made separately from the others and then, once all the parts had been fired, they were all assembled to obtain the final work. Each part is signed by the artist, Pierre Perret, and by the place where the planter was produced, Mont Boron in Nice.
The intertwining of plant motifs in the decoration, giving an effect of movement, and the imposing size of this planter are a perfect example of Napoleon III's reinterpretation of the Baroque style, however, the colours seem more markedly Art Nouveau, particularly the green that appears in the ceramics under the direction of the Massier family.
A former notary of the town of Vallauris, located on the French Riviera, Pierre Perret worked from 1895 with the Massier family, owners of a ceramic factory. This family of ceramists innovated in the artistic field through their research into old techniques, such as glazed earthenware, or metallic lustre, but also showed great originality, characteristic of the works of the factory, with the search for harmony between green and purple with a floral and plant vocabulary of the art nouveau. In 1898, Pierre Perret bought the Mont Boron and Vallauris potteries from Jérôme Massier Fils (Jean-Baptiste). He sold them in 1901, but after going bankrupt in 1908, took over his property, finally selling it to Jean-Baptiste Massier in 1909.