Monsieur Titi plays ping-pong with a fellow named Philippe. A couple of weeks ago, we'd been invited to a party where I met Philippe and his wife, Marie. Philippe got to talking about Vallauris pottery. I'd never heard the name nor was I familiar with the town.
Last night, we went to another ping-pong party to celebrate the end of the year. Philippe and Marie were there and Philippe brought me a Vallauris plate. He said that it wasn't really worth anything and had been hanging around in his garage for years. I was thrilled and I immediately fell in love with my new treasure.
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| This is a little bigger than 1 foot long |
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| This map should show you a little red spot in the south-east corner |
This got me interested in the history of the pottery and so I went hunting.
I learned lots of interesting things. Vallauris is on the côte d'Azur in the Alpes-Maritimes. The recorded history for the area talks about the ceramics trade as early as 1500.
The most well-known ceramics manufacturer was Jerome Massier and sons. They produced dishware throughout the 19th C. They invented metallized glaze which gave their pottery such a unique look.
In 1948, Picasso came to live in Vallauris, attracted by the limitless possibilities to explore art in the ceramics media. He lived there until 1955 but continued to collaborate with the artists there for many years. There were dozens of other artists living in Vallauris at the time; some of the most well-known were Charon, and Suzanne Douly-Ramie.
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| by Picasso |
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| by Capron |
10 comments:
I like you dish and wish that I knew to buy these potteries when I went to Vallauris as a teen with my mom, but we only looked as I remember. A friend gave me a black plate showing the outline of a bird, it came from Vallauris, and it is hanging in my kitchen. All this area of la Côte d’Azur is so picturesque and covered with artists.
That plate will dress up a table!
A very interesting dish, indeed. And thanks for providing the history with it.
On the contrary, Dedene. I love it! I can see this working in a very monotone design palette. Obviously, I wouldn't put it with 10 other similar items, but on it's own, it's a great center piece and a real conversational item.
m.
That sure is something! I can't quite imagine what it looks like in person. Almost a foot long you say???? Wow.
I have mixed feelings about it. But as Mark said, it looks great on its own. Hang on to it, as 1950-ties furniture and other stuff are very 'in' today, with values expecting to increase in the near future.
I think the dish is very beautiful. I would put it on a room with very neutral coloring as well. Thanks for sharing.
How cool is it to have a piece of pottery that links you to Picasso (in a roundabout way, but, in a way nonetheless!). It's a unique piece, but, not ugly. It stands out in a good way I think. Congrats on your new treasure!
Le principal est que ce plat si gentiment offert ne finisse pas dans ton garage à toi.
En général, ils sont très gentils les "Philippes".
Je n'ai pas de Vallauris chez moi, mais du Gien, tout le service de tables de ma Mémé et un set petit déjeuner offert par mes cousins Réné et Paulette qui habitaient à Gien et une assiette de la même série offerte par ma Tante Suzanne, la soeur de ma Mémé.
Ici en Sarthe il y a les poteries de Mallcorne. Très belles mais très chères
Comment from Claude.
Yeah, my grandparents-in-law gave us the ugliest dish ever.
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