Style Other / Ref.15384

O. MILET, Émile Diffloth, Ornamental Dish with Hummingbird, late 19th century

This decorative dish featuring a kingfisher results from the collaboration between ceramist Félix Optat Milet (1838-1911) and Emile Diffloth (1856-1933). Born into a family of potters, Milet joined the Manufacture de Sèvres in 1862 as a modeler before becoming a decorator. In 1866, he founded his own factory, which would become the largest private ceramics manufacturer in Sèvres. In 1876, Optat Milet participated privately in the Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition of the Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts, where his brightly colored creations were a great success, as evidenced by the lines dedicated to him by Adrien Dubouché in 1876 in his article “Contemporary Ceramics at the Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts Exhibition” in the second issue of L'Art: la revue hebdomadaire illustrée. At the 1889 World's Fair, Milet won the gold medal and Loebnitz highlighted the wonderful effects made possible thanks to the new technique used by Optat. It was also in the 1880s that Optat Milet and Clément Massier opened the Delvaux boutique (18, rue royale in Paris), which remained in business until the 1970s.

Our dish bears Emile Diffloth's signature on the front and the Milet factory mark on the back. Based in Sèvres, Milet was famous for his technical expertise and his close ties with the Manufacture Nationale. The central decoration created by Diffloth features a vibrant cobalt blue kingfisher. The motif of the kingfisher just leaving its branch and the elegant composition are inspired by Japanese art, which was in vogue at the time. The details and relief effects under the glaze are striking: the veins of the leaves are brilliantly rendered and the gold background dotted with plant elements creates a luminous vibration contrasting with the powerful blue of the bird's plumage.