Style Art Nouveau / Ref.15164

Théodore DECK, circular dish with eggplant base with swallows

This ornamental dish decorated with poppy flowers and two swallows circling on an aubergine background was made in glazed ceramic by Théodore Deck (1823-1891) at the end of the 19^th century.

Théodore Deck initially trained as a stove maker. When he set up on his own in Paris in 1858, he made stove linings and, building on his success, moved into ceramics. The studio produced a large number of dishes, sometimes in collaboration with well-known painters. He gradually perfected his technique and enjoyed great success at the many World’s Fairs he took part in. In 1878, he was made an Officer of the Légion d’Honneur. He ran the Sèvres factory between 1887 and his death in 1891.

This dish bears witness to the influence of Asian art on his work from the 1870s onwards: the dark background is set off by flat, brightly coloured, slightly shaded motifs, with no sense of depth. The stems, leaves and soft flowers are stylised, as they might be in Japanese prints. Finally, swallows are regarded very positively in Japan and are a recurring motif in that country’s art. The background of this dish is particularly elaborate, giving the illusion that the birds are swirling the air around them.

The Marc Maison gallery is presenting another dish by Théodore Deck, in which brightly coloured flowers stand out against an aubergine background, as well as a dish created in collaboration with the painter Éléonore Escallier, in which tits and a bullfinch add life to the more plant-like pattern that surrounds them.