When it comes to wintery glazing effects, this French Art Nouveau vase is really the icing on the roof. It was made by la Faiencerie Héraldique Artistique de Pierrefonds in the Teens or Twenties. The workshop was founded by the Comte d'Arros, Olivier de Sorra—a painter who wanted to produce ceramic wares in the village of Pierrefonds (about 50 miles northeast of Paris). After a slow start—producing "heraldic stoneware" with noble French crests—he landed upon the Art Nouveau stoneware with exceptional glazes for which he would forever be remembered.
The form is a simple, classically-inspired pot—with two little bumps, suggesting "handles" upon the rounded shoulder. A snowy-grey underglaze allows the organic, dripping overglaze to really pop. This blue glaze is really a roiled palette of blues—which have curdled, separated and trickled downward as the piece was fired. Some light crystallization is visible in spots, as is a touch of olive-mustard glazing around the neck. The icy coloration—combined with the "melting effect" of the overglaze—gives this blue vase a dynamic, wintery look. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
More "Feeling Blue" tomorrow and in the days to come.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.