Still Life with a Pan, a Jug, a Bottle and Eggs on a Table

The objects in this still life and its measurements closely concur with a painting by Vollon entitled Poteries, exhibited in the Salon of 1886. A published description of the Salon painting, without any accompanying illustration, is given by Georges Lafenestre in his Livre d'or du Salon de Peinture et de sculpture, (Paris, 1886, p. 57). Lafenestre carefully itemizes each object and where it is situated in the still life - two earthenware vessels (a red jar and a yellow pan), the bottle wrapped with straw in the right background, and the three eggs in the foreground. However, he locates the signature at lower left rather than lower right, perhaps mistakenly. The work was cited in the Salon catalogue as no. 2410 and as belonging to the dealer Auguste Breysse, whose establishment was located at 49, Boulevard de Clichy, in close proximity to Vollon's studio at number 25 on the same street. A painting bearing the same title was exhibited in the Exposition Universelle of 1889 as no. 1360 and as belonging to a M. Chenu.

This work bears a painterly freedom of execution that is typical of Vollon and bodies forth a sense of the texture and sheen of the actual pottery itself. The artist's pupil and biographer described his 1886 Salon painting as an "awesome piece which seemed mixed entirely from potter's clay by the hand of a Titan" (E. Martin, Antoine Vollon peintre (1833-1900), Paris, 1923, p. 38). Other critics praised this work for its "magical colorism" (J. Noulens, Artistes francais et etrangers au Salon de 1886, Marseille, 1887, p. 301), and lauded Vollon's ability to transform still life into great art, comparing him to Delacroix (A. Wolff, Figaro-Salon, 1886, pp. 84-85).

We are grateful to Carol Forman Tabler for preparing this catalogue entry.