Style Other / Ref.10546

Théodore DECK (ceramist) and Éléonore ESCALLIER (painter), dish with tits

This ornamental dish with a decoration inspired by Far Eastern arts is the fruit of the collaboration between the ceramist Théodore Deck and the painter Éléonore Escallier in the second half of the 19^th century: it is numbered and signed "TH.DECK", and bears the following inscription: "ELEONORE. ESCALLIER. FECIT. MDCCCLXXI. [1871]".

Théodore Deck initially trained in stove making. When he set up his own business in Paris in 1858, he made stove linings and then, on the strength of his success, moved into ceramics. The studio produced a large number of dishes, sometimes in collaboration with well-known painters such as Éléonore Escallier. He gradually perfected his technique and enjoyed great success at the many World’s Fairs he took part in. In 1878, he was made an Officer of the Légion d’Honneur. He ran the Sèvres factory between 1887 and his death in 1891.

Éléonore Escallier worked with Théodore Deck from the 1860s, before going to work for the Manufacture de Sèvres. She painted naturalistic flowers and birds.

This dish bears witness to the influence of Asian art, and in particular Japanese prints, on European works from the 1870s onwards: against a cream background reminiscent of these works stand out the highly naturalistic depictions of a cherry tree and three birds, two tits and perhaps a bullfinch, characterised by the use of pastel colours.

Two other dishes from the collaboration between these two artists are in the Arts Décoratifs Museum in Paris (20475.A and .B). They feature highly varied and original naturalistic patterns: one is decorated with squash plants, while the other features colourful and lively birds and exotic flowers.