Decorative and Design

Vase, 20.5 inches high, circa 1908. Paul Dachsel Mark, Mint. Illustrated in Monsters and Maidens Collectors Edition,Byron Vreeland, page 408.

On a Stylized Calla Lily Tray, 14 inches high, 20 inches wide, 1900. Amphora Oval Mark, Signed E. Stellmacher, impressed 7634, Mint. Illustrated in Monsters and Maidens Collectors Edition,Byron Vreeland, page 144.

The Siot Deauville foundry in Paris collected, published and exhibited a notable selection of works, many in the burgeoning Art Nouveau style, across the late 19th and early 20th century — including this fine pewter centerpiece from Max Blondat. The central nymph-like female form tapers into carefully sculpted waves and a surrounding trio of male nudes, balancing adherence to the natural with a mythic narrative. Le Tourbillon with a Siot Decauville Paris foundry mark, numbered H137.

Walnut pedestal table from architect and designer Selmersheim in the French Art Nouveau style. A circular stepped top is raised above a lower conforming tray and eight surrounding dishes, each with its own supporting branch. The multi-tiered system of supports and tabletops allows for an intricate level of structural detail whilst retaining the smooth and naturalistic overall appearance — classically similar perhaps to the clustered stems of a purpletop vervain flower.

Teco, or the Terra Cotta Tile & Ceramic Company, founded by William Day Gates in 1881, were the first major manufacturer of architecturally-focused terra cotta — their practical lines of tile, brick, chimney and urn gradually complemented by a burgeoning set of art pottery that carries similar ideals and methodology. Overall form is presented in a simple, reduced palette of shape, the large bulk designed by Gates or the school of Prairie School Chicago architects following in the wake of Louis Sullivan — including William James Dodd and the eminent Frank Lloyd Wright. The pieces aimed to convey a decorative purpose through the merging and flattening of geometric and organic structures in a naturalistic fashion, this Baluster vase combining those principles with a classicism that loops back to traditional representation of decorative pottery. The micro-crystalline green glaze has a wispy, crisp silvered tonality, its unique characteristic developed by Gates over 13 years, and is generally applied on shades of black overglaze to add understated depth.

‘Bar Mitzvah Boy’s not-so-subtle defacing is typically biting for Kottler, the artist often known for collecting and decorating a collection of mass-produced and commercial ceramic with decals, prizing anything that could be worked into to convey a new socially subversive message. Here the simple addition of a Star of David refigures the commemorative plate of a Pope as of Jewish origin — comparatively aligning the two religions similarities and dismissing notions of the sacred, tongue firmly wedged in cheek. Provenance: Purchased directly from the Artist

Shōko’s ceramics tantalise in their reflection of sea-forms and simple, shell-like densities that dismantle boundaries between animal and vessel. Shōko matured in a period with precious few female ceramicist contemporaries within Japan, becoming one of the first to graduate from the celebrated Tokyo National University of Fine Art & Music — and subsequently well known as an artist throughout Japan. “Barnacle” exhibits a rough figure, the abstract and modular form thrown by wheel in Shigaraki clay then teased into final shape by hand. The piece is finished in her traditional and signature creamy white glaze that blends with the texture of the earthenware.

This form was originally designed for the Iridium Jazz club at the Empire Hotel, New York.

This form was originally designed for the Iridium Jazz club at the Empire Hotel, New York.

MASSIMO MICHELUZZI; Battuto carved glass vase, Murano, 2001; Signed and dated; 13 1/2" x 5"