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2 Gien Faience Plates – Japonisme – Blue Floral Decor – Late 19th Century
€59Bid from €53.10
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ProfessionalProduct description
These two plates reflect something of late 19th-century France, a period when the country discovered with fascination a still mysterious elsewhere: Japan. The Gien factory, founded in 1821 on the banks of the Loire, is one of those great French faience manufacturers that successfully absorbed the influences of their era and transformed them into their own unique decorative language. When Japonism revolutionized European arts in the second half of the 19th century, flowers ceased to be modest, symmetrically arranged ornaments. They invade the composition, branches curve, spaces are freed, and the eye moves differently. On their faience, now a soft ivory, the botanical elements are drawn in a particularly delicate camaieu of blue. Neither of the two compositions is identical. On one, the flowers seem to emerge in successive bouquets. On the other, a long branch freely crosses the plate in a much more airy composition. They were also intended for two different courses of the meal. The first, approximately 24 cm, corresponds to the size reserved for the starter. The second, slightly larger at 25 cm, is the plate intended for the main course. This difference in form and decoration gives them much more charm today than a perfectly identical pair: they are the rediscovered fragments of a genuine antique dinner service. On the reverse appears the beautiful stamp of the Gien Faience factory, bearing the mentions "Gold Medals" and "Diploma of Honour," testifying to the recognition the manufacturer garnered during the great exhibitions. The pattern is identified as IRIS. More than a century has naturally left its mark. The enamel displays that fine crazing often cherished on antique faience, along with a few marks and small chips visible in the photographs. Their patina is not that of dishes taken out of a box yesterday. Two plates that can still be used, collected, or simply hung side-by-side. Two Japonist compositions from Gien, almost transformed into faience paintings.
Additional details:
- Brand: Gien
- Style: Japonisme
- Material: Faïence
- Colour: ivoire
- Period: Fin XIXe siècle
Specifications
ConditionGoodColorsBlue
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About this seller
ProfessionalSaint symphorien des bois, FranceOn Whoppah since August 2026 • 1 sale