A FRENCH STONEWARE GOURD-SHAPED EWER VASE BY PIERRE-ADRIEN DALPAYRAT

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Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat (1844-1910) is best known for his experimental jewel-like flambé glazes, emulating the mythical Chinese ‘sang-de-boeuf’ glaze so revered by western ceramicists. The variations this technique resulted in were endless; he produced distinctive combinations in turquoise, amethyst and most famously ‘Dalpayrat Rouge’, often streaked with darker aubergine and browns. His experiments with flambé and his decision to work mainly in stoneware - which had been elevated to an art medium by this point - no doubt reflected the general excitement and intrigue in the arts of Japan amongst European artists in the 1870s-90s. The Japanese influence is also clearly visible in the forms Dalpayrat produced, the bottle vases and geometric shapes for example. However, he became bolder and more eccentric with his forms as his career progressed, often applying animals such as lizards, crabs and toads to his work. Or, in the case of the textured vase (lot 18) using the bumpy texture of reptile skin as a surface and the rarer example of the elephant vase (lot 20) where two addorsed elephant heads form a more lifelike, sculptural object. Dalpayrat often worked in collaboration with other artists, initially with the sculptor Alphonse Voisin-Delacroix, where Voisin-Delacroix modelled the shapes and Dalpayrat was responsible for the actual manufacture of the work (the firing, glazing, patinas). Upon the death of Voisin-Delacroix in 1893, Dalpayrat partnered with Adele Lesbros who provided the finances to support his expensive experimental work. His most ambitious work from this time was a monumental mantlepiece, three metres high, purchased by the French state for the Musée du Luxembourg and now in the collection of the Musee d’Orsay [inv.3330]. His technical skill was also demonstrated by a pair of two metre vases that he created for the Exposition Universelle in 1900 which now reside in the Petit Palace, Paris [PP03672 and PP03672]. Lot 19 is another rare survival of one of his large-scale works. At the time Dalpayrat was very much part of Parisian salon society, he exhibited at the prestigious Galerie Georges Petit, where in 1892 he unveiled what would become his trademark oxblood flambé glaze. He also worked with the gallerist Siegfried Bing (1838-1905), a key and pioneering figure promoting what would later be coined Art Nouveau, after his gallery Maison de l’Art Nouveau, and Japanese art in the late 19th century. Dalpayrat was amongst the exhibitors in Bing’s seminal exhibition Salon de l’art nouveau in 1895. Collected with care and passion, this group of Dalpayrat works celebrates the breadth of Dalpayrat’s skill, his love of experimentation and the variety of his oeuvre.

A FRENCH STONEWARE GOURD-SHAPED EWER VASE BY PIERRE-ADRIEN DALPAYRAT

CIRCA 1900

Details

A FRENCH STONEWARE GOURD-SHAPED EWER VASE BY PIERRE-ADRIEN DALPAYRAT
CIRCA 1900
The body of gourd-shaped form with a waisted neck, everted rim and curved handle, decorated in dark red, turquoise, blue and cream flambé glazes
10 1⁄4 in. (26 cm.) high; 12 in. (30.5 cm.) diameter

Provenance

Acquired from Galerie Jean-François Dubois, Paris.
Supplied by François-Joseph Graf.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

An example of this ewer vase form was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1900. Another example of the same form is illustrated by H. Makus et al., Adrien Dalpayrat, Französische Jugendstil-Keramik/Céramique française de l'Art Nouveau, Stuttgart, 1998, p. 132, no. 67.

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