Louis-Robert CARRIER-BELLEUSE

Louis-Robert CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1848 - 1913) and Faïencerie de CHOISY LE ROI (1863 - 1938): "Enfants et Papillons" Stoneware model presented at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1898, under number 4060, with three other vases. Glazed earthenware This vase features a slender shape counterbalanced by four handles. The body is entirely decorated with floral or purely decorative elements, while the figures are relegated to the neck. A frieze of putti chasing butterflies runs the length of the neck in a frenzied circle. This vase is decorated using a combination of different techniques. The belly of the vase is adorned with a floral design combining relief and incised elements. The children's frieze is executed in paste-on-paste. This process, developed at the Manufacture de Sèvres around 1848, was usually used by sculptors, which Louis Carrier-Belleuse was. It consists in applying generally white motifs to a colored background. This original vase blends two inspirations: the frieze of putti seems to stem from the Second Empire, while the belly of the vase features plant elements heralding Art Nouveau. At the 1898 Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, this vase appeared for the first time in stoneware, along with three others: Hercule et Omphale, Sauve qui peut! and Musique. These four vases are presented under the same number (no. 4060) and in the same display case. Three of the four vases, including Enfants et papillons, were reproduced in 1900 in the magazine La Décoration ancienne et moderne. Enfants et papillons was acquired by the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, in 2003, and is one of the few examples of a vase by this designer to be preserved in a French public collection. The same year, he presented a fifth vase, number 4059, entitled L'agriculture. This earthenware vase is not the one exhibited at the 1898 Salon. However, its re-issue by the Choisy-Le-Roi faience factory proves the popularity of this model and its creator. Son of sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887), Louis Carrier-Belleuse studied with Gustave Boulanger and Alexandre Cabanel at the École des Beaux-Arts. He made his debut as a painter at the Salon of 1870 and began exhibiting sculptures in 1889. He took an early interest in the industrial arts: for several years, he worked alongside his father at the Manufacture de Sèvres, where he had been artistic director since 1875. In 1877, he gained his first experience of working with ceramics with Théodore Deck, and entered a jardinière project in the 1882 Sèvres competition. He subsequently became director of works of art at the Choisy-le-Roi faience factory, to which he supplied numerous models. In 1896, he won a medal in the applied art section, the year in which he presented the two plaster vases. He exhibited for the last time in 1912. As artistic director of the Choisy-le-Roi earthenware factory, he designed numerous models, including this vase. Founded in 1805 by Messrs Valentin, Melchior and Nicolas Paillart in the former Petit Château de Choisy-le-Roi, the factory became the property of Valentin Paillart and Hippolyte Hautin in 1824. In 1836, with the departure of Valentin Paillart, the factory became the property of Hippolyte Hautin and Louis Boulenger. From then on, Choisy-le-Roi earthenware was a family affair. In 1863, Hippolyte Boulenger succeeded his uncle Louis at the head of the company. He remained the sole owner until 1878. Under his leadership, the factory underwent considerable expansion. That same year, he decided to transform the factory into a partnership limited by shares: the "Société Hte Boulenger et Cie" was born. Hippolyte Boulenger was the sole managing director until his death in 1892. At that time, his son Paul took over the business. Louis Carrier-Belleuse worked with him.