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Lot Essay
This impressive and large dish is a copy of an Iznik dish donated to the Harvard Art museums in 1985 (accession number 1985.314).
Edme ‘Mardoché’ Samson (1810-1891) was the first of his family to open a workshop in Paris in 1845. His first works were executed in the Romantic style. The production rose throughout the third quarter of the 19th century, following the high demand for luxury objects encouraged by the court of Napoleon III. Eventually, the workshop began to create pieces for export. Edme brought his eldest son Emile to the business and it is under the name Samson E. Père et Fils Aîné that they participated in the Paris International Exhibition of 1867. The acquisition of the Salzmann Collection, comprising over 500 Ottoman ceramics, by the Cluny Museum between 1865 and 1878 and later, the great exhibitions of London and Munich ensured a steady rise in interest, demand and prices for Oriental-style ceramics. The Sevres Museum bought pieces from the Samsons in 1878-79 and the Victoria and Albert Museum acquires a few after the Paris Great Exhibition of 1889. The workshop reproduced published pieces from important public and private collections and occasionally bought antiques that they sold after copying them. Emile and his son Léon worked together under the name Samson et Fils until the beginning of the 20th century.
For other Samson pieces in this sale see lot 273
Edme ‘Mardoché’ Samson (1810-1891) was the first of his family to open a workshop in Paris in 1845. His first works were executed in the Romantic style. The production rose throughout the third quarter of the 19th century, following the high demand for luxury objects encouraged by the court of Napoleon III. Eventually, the workshop began to create pieces for export. Edme brought his eldest son Emile to the business and it is under the name Samson E. Père et Fils Aîné that they participated in the Paris International Exhibition of 1867. The acquisition of the Salzmann Collection, comprising over 500 Ottoman ceramics, by the Cluny Museum between 1865 and 1878 and later, the great exhibitions of London and Munich ensured a steady rise in interest, demand and prices for Oriental-style ceramics. The Sevres Museum bought pieces from the Samsons in 1878-79 and the Victoria and Albert Museum acquires a few after the Paris Great Exhibition of 1889. The workshop reproduced published pieces from important public and private collections and occasionally bought antiques that they sold after copying them. Emile and his son Léon worked together under the name Samson et Fils until the beginning of the 20th century.
For other Samson pieces in this sale see lot 273