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My selection
(7 Objects)

My selection (7 Objects)


Delphin MASSIER (1836-1907) - Important Orientalist style earthenware planter

Ref.10838
Delphin MASSIER (1836-1907) - Important Orientalist style earthenware planter

This important Orientalist earthenware planter was made around 1880 in the workshops of Delphin Massier, a member of the Massier family which was a dynasty of ceramists established since the 17th century in Vallauris. It consists of a large earthenware vase on a base with four columns adorned with muquarnas and covered with a floral and abstract Oriental ornamentation. The blue tones are both characteristic of the Massier production and of the Orientalism, especially in the field of ceramics. The pottery family tradition began with Pierre Massier (1707-1748) then with Jacques Massier (1806-1871) who gave to the workshop a new lease of life. Indeed, their factory, which was at first a simple workshop with an utilitarian vocation, stood out from the local production tanks to an innovative and artistic production. In Vallauris they introduced an art ceramic, notably thanks to the arrival of the Italian potter Gondolfi Gaetano in 1859, who initiated Delphin and his brother Clément (1844-1917) to numerous practices such as plaster molds and enamelled earthenware decoration techniques. The glory of the Massier family peaked at the turn of the century with Delphin and Clément and their cousin Jerome and son (1830-1916), son of Jerome (1820-1909). Both art ceramists and entrepreneurs, the Massiers had also made themselves known thanks to their elaborate sales catalogs which give us today a way to appreciate the diversity of their productions and to identify their models. The ceramicists family had built its reputation thanks to their ability to innovate (they developed several techniques) and because their productions were inspired by the important trends of the period. The Massiers, who played a certain role in the revival of the decorative arts, are very representative of the characteristic wealth of the 19th century. Thus, if their first realizations were inspired by historicism and eclecticism, Jerome and Delphin will devote themselves later to an Art Nouveau style production. Our planter is inspired by Orientalism, surely one of the greatest artistic movement of the 19th century which inspired the Massier for many creations as we can see in their catalogs where we can also find several similar planters to the one we present. Otherwise, one of the most prestigious realizations of Clément Massier is this planter constitued with a base, almost identical to ours, and a bowl. It is called Large Persian bowl with four columns base, whose one copy is preserved at the Vallauris Museum. Among Orientalism, Moorish Spain is one of the decorators lands of preference which gave them the turquoise blue for example. The Massiers, which developed an important taste for colors, will make green and red, but especially blue, and more precisely peacock blue, like the color of our planter, inspired by the Hispano-Moorish art, their favourite colors. The Massiers collaborated with great artists of their time such as Lévy-Dhurmer, Dominique Zumbo and their talent will be rewarded for example at the Paris World Fair in 1889 where Clement received a gold medal. They acquired an international reputation thanks to competitions and exhibitions in which they participated and had among their clients Victor Hugo or Emile Zola. This beautiful planter, with its exceptional large dimensions, its rich polychrome and its abstract and floral ornamentation, reflects both the taste for the Orient and the production of the Massier family, surely the most known dynasty of ceramists of the 19th century.

Dimensions:
Width: 50 cm
Height: 174 cm
Depth: 50 cm

Fernand THESMAR, Ceramic gardener with applied enamel flowers decoration

Ref.11429
Fernand THESMAR, Ceramic gardener with applied enamel flowers decoration

This important gardener bears the monogram of the enameler André-Fernand Thesmar (1843-1912), and was made in the beginning of his enemaler career when he discovers the enamel work and starts his first tries in the 1870's. Andre-Fernand Thesmar first devoted himself to oil painting and was known as a painter of flowers. He was educated in drawing in a factory for printed-fabric in Mulhouse where he had been placed at fourteen years old to learn the trade of a draftsman. His teacher was a painter of flowers: he “drew and dissected the plant with fury, requiring an anatomical analysis of shapes and a meticulous copy of nature.” He left this industrial environment to go to Paris in 1860 and engaged in various activities. It was probably for his talent as a painter that Thesmar was noticed in 1872 by Ferdinand Barbedienne. With Barbedienne, later Thesmar succeeded to the management of the production of enamels. The productions of Thesmar and Barbedienne reflected the interest that they had for the decorative techniques and compositions of Japanese enamel. It was as “co-operator of the Barbedienne company” that Thesmar exhibited at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in 1874, A cock pheasant from China. At the exposition in 1875, Thesmar exhibited two large enamel compositions on copper. In 1891, Thesmar turned to the decoration of porcelain and introduced himself to Charles Lauth who, since 1879, led the Factory de Sèvres. Its at this time that the collaboration with the Barbedienne company ended. Afterwards, he would be especially known for having invented the “plique à jour” technique, which numerous pieces of are kept in public collections. He creates here a very beautiful gardener with a brown background on which is detaching a floral decoration, favorite theme of the artist, in light relief with applied enamel. His study of the botany allows him to create decor of which the flower speciment are easily recognizable. For instance, we can identify here on one face yellow bindweed as flowered rosemary. On the ohter side he depicts holly. Finally on the whole a rain of aquilegias put randomly on the surface.

Dimensions:
Height: 23 cm

Pear in a Carafe Offered to President Sadi Carnot at the 1889 Universal Exhibition

Ref.14917
Pear in a Carafe Offered to President Sadi Carnot at the 1889 Universal Exhibition

This pear, preserved in a carafe of brandy, is a memento from the 1889 World’s Fair. It was presented to the President of the Republic at the time, Sadi Carnot, on this occasion. This pear in a carafe follows the traditional production of a particularly high-quality pear brandy. The first step occurs after the pear trees bloom: a bottle is placed over the pear, while it is still an embryo, a delicate and crucial step for the success of the operation. In August, when the pears reach maturity, the fruits and bottles are harvested. The bottles are then filled with alcohol, so the pear absorbs it; afterwards, the alcohol is removed and replaced with pear brandy. This pear in a carafe is over 130 years old. It is exceptional due to its longevity, but also because of the inscription that is still perfectly legible on the fruit. Indeed, this inscription had to be made before the pear was placed in the carafe, when it was only a few centimeters in size. It indicates the prestigious destination of this item: “Souvenir / de / L'Exposition Universelle / de / Paris 1889 / Mr Carnot President / de la / République française” (Souvenir of the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, Mr Carnot, President of the French Republic). Thus, this pear brandy carafe was presented to Sadi Carnot (1837-1894). After brilliant studies, Carnot became an engineer before engaging in the political life of his time. He was elected President of the Republic in 1887; the 1889 World’s Fair is one of the significant events of his term. He was assassinated by an Italian anarchist in 1894. Due to its origin and exceptional preservation, this pear in a carafe is therefore a historical object of prime importance.

Dimensions:
Height: 29 cm