Ref.15523
Pair of Japenese Vases by Alphonse Giroux and Charles Ficquenet

Signed “ALPH. GIROUX PARIS”, this pair of square base vases features a décor of flowers on a white background. These natural flowers, are made up of soft, pastel colours, the petals of each flower create a delicate gradation of pink, yellow, blue and white. The vase is outlined in bronze, and frames two parts of the vase. It frames the base, with feet featuring dragons' heads, and it frames the top of the vase. From Japanese inspiration, these vases come from the Japanese vogue, which became known in France during the 1860s-1870s, thanks to Japan opening foreign markets under the Meiji era. This vogue style is wonderfully illustrated by the famous “Service Rousseau” the name for the Parisian seller Eugène Rousseau, named so by the painter and engraver Félix Bracquemond. The Alphonse Giroux house was a famous marquetry and cabinet making store, situated at 7, rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré, in Paris, which expanded from 1799 to the end of the Second Empire. This house was created by François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux, and his two sons Alphonse-Gustave et André took over the business on the 19th May 1838. In his shop, Alphonse Giroux sold objects of curiosity, marquetry, stationary, but also pictures, paintings, and engravings, like an 18th century Marchand-mercier. Louis XVIII and Charles X chose gifts for the young princes in Alphonse-Giroux's shop. It was his son, in particular, who gave a real boost to the family business and made it enter the top ranking of luxury shops. The house was highly influenced by Japonism during the 1860s and 1870s, as can be seen by this pair of vases. In 1885, the Giroux house definitively closed its doors.

Ref.16107
Longwy faience: pair of vases on a wood base

Enameled faience, bases made out of wood. This pair of vases was made by the Longwy manufacturer, Fainencerie of Meurthe-et-Moselle, around 1880. In blue enameled faience and goldened with an engraved decoration, these two vases are elaborately decorated on their paunches. A vegetal decor of floral branches decorates the whole surface of the faience. In the middle of each vase there is a cartouche with an intertwining decor, around which there are bats with their wings spread. These same bets are displayed in relief on the neck of each vase. These vases play on the ornamental vocabulary from the Far East that were really in fashion in France at the time, thanks to the Universal Exhbitions where China was able to present its most illustrious creations. Created in 1798, the Faincerie of Longwy was well renowned from the start of the 19th century. With the arrival of the Italian Amédée from Carenza who bought with him the technique of cloisonné enamels on faience, the Faiencerie diversified and largely expanded its production, changing it to produce oriental and Far East style works of art, according to the trend at the time. This pair of vases is a clear example of this.

Ref.10972
MANUFACTURE JULES VIEILLARD & CIE - Glazed ceramic dish with a parrot partitioned decoration

Large circular dish in enameled polychrome ceramic with light relief decoration of a parrot perched on a branch of Japanese cherry blossom on aubergine color background. Cartridge with fake Japanese calligraphy in the decoration. At the back, mark of the "Jules Vieillard et Compagnie" factory with the three intertwined croissants that take up the coat of arms of the city of Bordeaux. This mark indicates a period of manufacture between 1868 and 1895, that is to say at the time when the two sons of Jules Vieillard, Charles and Albert, direct the manufacture. But more precisely, one can undoubtedly attribute the genesis of this type of Japanese design to the presence of Amédée de Caranza, visionary workshop manager with a particular taste for Orientalism and Japanism. It is thanks to his talent and knowledge that the Bordeaux factory shines from the World's Fair 1878 . A large dish of the same model is reproduced in the book "Jules Vieillard et Cie, Histoire de la faïence fine à Bordeaux. De l'anglomanie au rêve orientaliste." by Jacqueline du Pasquier, p. 108.

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.