Style Japonism, Chinoiserie / Ref.11402

Manufacture Jules Vieillard & Cie, set of nine Japonist plates

This exceptional set of nine Japonist plates bears the mark of the renowned Bordeaux porcelain manufactory Jules Vieillard & Cie. Replacing the traditional factory signature—three interlaced crescents derived from the coat of arms of the city of Bordeaux—is a Japonist cartouche enclosing the monogram of Jules Vieillard (two confronting “J”s with a superimposed “V”), together with the letters “B” and “X” for Bordeaux. The emergence of this type of Japonist decoration can most certainly be attributed to the presence of Amédée de Caranza at Vieillard from 1878 onward. A visionary workshop director with a strong sensitivity to Orientalism and Japonisme, Caranza introduced new models, designs, and enamelling techniques that breathed fresh life into the Bordeaux manufactory, which gained wide recognition following the Exposition universelle of 1878. The works of Hokusai exerted a profound fascination on the ceramist, a native of Constantinople—particularly the famous sketchbooks known as the Hokusai Manga, in which landscapes, scenes of everyday life, and fantastical figures intermingle. Japanese prints provided Western artists of the second half of the 19th century with a vast visual repertoire. Caranza directly borrowed, almost line for line, the group of figures holding parasols from the first volume of the Hokusai Manga, published in 1814. In keeping with Japanese aesthetic principles, he set the figures within sparsely defined spaces, leaving large areas intentionally unoccupied—an approach that lends these compositions their remarkable evocative power.