Longchamp - Vase - Earthenware

A ceramic vase modeled after ancient Greek vases in the amphora lutrofora type. It is a tall, slender vase with a long, narrow neck that makes up almost half of the vessel’s height. The base is a massive, expanded foot, decorated with relief ornament. The belly is clearly separated from the base with an elongated, ovoid shape. Smoothly rising from it is the neck, narrowing and flaring into a wide collar. On both sides of the vessel, symmetrically between the upper part of the belly and the expanded lip, there are vertical, tall, thin handles. The handles have a volute shape and a square cross-section. The vase is fully covered with a combination of relief and painted decoration. The background is painted with enamel colors in green, broken blue tones, on which a low-relief decoration is laid out. It features one of the most popular plant motifs in the Art Nouveau period – the poppy flower. The floral decoration winds in a typically Secessionist, serpentine manner along the entire belly and neck of the vase. The poppy flower is the centerpiece of the decoration and is placed in the middle of the body. It sits on tall stems and is surrounded by leaves. The painted floral decoration, unlike the solidly colored body, is very rich and multicolored. The poppy is depicted realistically using a wide color range, employing various shades of greens, reds, and yellows. The Longchamp Works was founded in 1830 by Claude Phal-Matiron, initially as a tile factory. Three years later it began producing ceramic wares as well. In 1866 it was taken over by his son, architect Phal-Blondo. Two years later the factory passed to Marcel and Robert Charbonnier, who expanded production and established ties with artists from the Dijon center (Trochot, Marie, Guillaume, Damann) to create new models and decorations. After the war, in 1947, a workshop-associated school for training future ceramists was established at the factory. The works sold their products in luxury department stores such as Galeries Lafayette and La Samaritaine. In 2009 the company permanently closed its doors.