If you'd like to give mum some flowers for Mother's Day, you couldn't do much better than this. This sublime French Art Nouveau vase was made in the South of France in Golfe-Juan—along the Mediterranean—by the unparalleled ceramicist Clément Massier. Massier pioneered the production of lustrous metallic glazes, often artfully combined with underlying hand-painted decoration. His contribution to the French Art Nouveau includes an installation at Maxims de Paris and the inclusion of his works in the Musée d'Orsay and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a young artist, Massier worked in his family's ceramics workshop, at the side of an Italian ceramics master, Gaetano Gandolfi. The young man was especially fond of Ancient ceramics—Egyptian, Greek and Roman—as well as masterpieces from the Italian Renaissance. Once Massier had founded his own studio, he smartly hired very talented artists who helped elevate his production. One such artist was Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer, an Algerian Jew, who helped Massier develop his "Hispano-Moresque" line of ceramics inspired by the Moorish South of Spain.
To read more about Clément Massier and his works, please click here and here.
Click on the photo above to learn more about this fascinating work of art.
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).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248