Style Other / Ref.15388

Théodore DECK, Dish decorated with iridescent bird and insects, circa 1880-1900

This earthenware dish with rich iridescent reflections was made by Théodore Deck around 1880-1900. It bears the artist’s signature and stamp on the back.

Théodore Deck initially trained in the field of stove manufacturing. When he established in Paris on his own in 1858, he produced stove coverings and, buoyed by his success, ventured into ceramics. The workshop then created numerous dishes, sometimes in collaboration with renowned painters. He gradually perfected his technique and achieved great success at the many Universal Exhibitions in which he participated. In 1878, he was made an officer of the Legion of Honor. He led the Sèvres factory from 1887 until his death in 1891.

The decoration of this dish, particularly poetic, features a small bird with a yellow throat and blue-green and brown wings, surrounded by orange flowers among which a bee and two butterflies flutter. The top of the bird’s head and part of its wings, as well as the wings of the butterflies and the body of the bee, were executed thanks to Deck’s work on metallic reflections, which uniquely enriches the decoration of this dish. It is notably due to his technical mastery in this area that he won a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1867; however, it is rare for him to use such an important and varied application in a single work. In this, the dish is an exceptional piece.

The artist particularly favored motifs of birds and butterflies in flight within a natural, flowery setting; this is evidenced by another dish of his, preserved in Peter Marino's collection, depicting a bird with blue wings striped with black, perched on a flowering branch, from where it watches two butterflies with colorful wings.