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Méténier Gannat Zoomorphic Art Stoneware Pitcher – Woodcock – Cobalt Blue Flambé Glazes
€185Bid from €166.50
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ProfessionalProduct description
This remarkable zoomorphic pitcher in glazed stoneware is a creation of the Méténier firm, one of the workshops that significantly influenced French art stoneware at the beginning of the 20th century. Established in Gannat, in the Allier region, the Méténier family developed from the 1910s a production of art stoneware that quickly stood out for the richness of its glazes. Louis Méténier worked with his son Gilbert, who would continue and develop the workshop from 1920. Vases, pitchers, bowls, and forms inspired by the plant and animal worlds were then crafted as true decorative objects, in the spirit that accompanied the transition from Art Nouveau to the early years of Art Deco. Méténier's reputation is notably due to its research into glazes and the effects obtained during firing. Deep blues, greens, ochres, browns, and metallic nuances meet and merge on the stoneware, giving each piece its own unique texture and variations. The production from Gannat is now fully recognized in the history of French ceramics, and the Yves-Machelon Museum in Gannat will dedicate a major exhibition to it in 2025. Our pitcher wonderfully illustrates this research. Its ample and rounded body is covered in its lower part with a spectacular cobalt blue glaze, deep and luminous. As one's gaze rises towards the shoulder, the blue meets shades of olive green, brown, ochre, and copper, forming drips and overlays born from the interplay of glazes and fire. But it is its silhouette that gives it its unique personality. The neck transforms into a bird's head. Subtle reliefs suggest the eyes while the spout stretches into a long, slender beak. The large handle balances this almost sculptural silhouette and echoes the body's roundness. Depending on the angle from which it is observed, the object thus changes its nature. It remains perfectly identifiable as a pitcher, then the bird emerges, and the ceramic suddenly takes on the appearance of a sculpture. The piece bears the Méténier signature under its base. Its modeling, its zoomorphic treatment, and its glazes allow it to be dated to around 1920, a particularly interesting period where the naturalistic research inherited from Art Nouveau gradually converged with the new decorative sensibilities of the 1920s. A piece of great character, typical of the most captivating works produced by Méténier stoneware, where the everyday object recedes behind the ceramist's artistry, and where the mastery of glazes transforms each firing into a singular creation.
Additional details:
- Brand: Méténier
- Designer: Louis Méténier
- Designer: Gilbert Méténier
- Material: Grès
- Material: Émail
- Colour: bleu cobalt
- Colour: brun
- Colour: ocre
- Colour: cuivre
- Period: 1920s
Specifications
ConditionGoodColorsBlue, GreenStyleArt Deco, Art Nouveau
Seller information
About this seller
ProfessionalSaint symphorien des bois, FranceOn Whoppah since August 2026 • 1 sale