Style Japonism, Chinoiserie / Ref.15382

Théodore DECK, Two Japanese-style four-lobed vases, one with a frame, circa 1875

The mounted vase has some structural issues; therefore, we are also selling an identical vase that can be inserted into the mount to replace it.

This vase with an eminently Japonist design was created by Théodore Deck circa 1875.

Théodore Deck initially trained as a stove maker. When he set up in Paris on his own account in 1858, he made stove linings and then, on the strength of his success, moved into ceramics. The studio produced many dishes in collaboration with well-known painters. Deck 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.

Under a beautiful “Deck blue” glaze characteristic of the artist’s work, a quadripartite decor flourishes. On one of the large sides, the artist depicted a little egret by the water under a palm tree. Opposite it, on the other large side, is a menacing-looking dragon. The smaller sides are adorned, one with a wading bird and aquatic plants, the other with a butterfly, a symbol of eternity in Eastern cultures, and terrestrial plants. The entire piece fits perfectly into a delicate Japonese-style mount decorated with blossoming cherry branches attributed to l’Escalier de Cristal.

These designs, both in the choice of monochromy, which involves a certain simplification of perspective, and in the choice of decorations, are part of the Japonism trend that transformed European arts from the 1870s. Théodore Deck, a passionate collector of East Asian arts, was one of its more talented advocates.

Two identical pieces are kept in the Théodore Deck Museum, in Guebwiller.