Théodore Deck: Blue at All Costs

As the Musée Roybet-Fould in the Paris suburb Courbevoie devotes an exhibition to the artist for the first time since 1980, we look back at the career of one of the stars of ceramics from the market angle. When he was barely 17, the young Théodore Deck had to return to his native town, Guebwiller (Vosges), to take up the reins of the family dyeing business at his father's death. The experience proved a bitter failure. Now freed from his commitments, he became an apprentice to the master stove builder Hügelin in Strasbourg, becoming proficient in all the historical techniques within two years. To complete his training, he worked as a journeyman in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Poland. The high quality of his output won him admiration and several major commissions. In late 1851, he moved to Paris and became the foreman of the Dumas company. With this workshop, he was awarded his first medal at the age of 32 in the 1855 Universal Exhibition. "Coq", large model forming…