MOUSTIERS - Dos bandejas de Faïence Histórica de Moustiers c. 1740-1750 (Periodo Luis XV) - Tray (2) - Faience / Earthenware

TWO OVAL TRAYS OF HISTORIC MOUGI? MOUSTIERS FAÏENCE ca. 1740-1750

Two oval Moustiè res? trays of faience with lobed (chantourné) borders, hand-painted on white tin-glaze and decorated in green and manganese camaïeu.

Both belong to the same decorative horizon and participate in the grotesques repertoire, one of the most original decorative languages developed in Moustiers. This repertoire is characterized by small burlesque or fantastical figures, placed on terraces and accompanied by flowers, foliage, and stylized vegetation.

Brushwork execution, economy of palette, and contrast between the white glaze, green, and manganese confer a special graphic clarity to these pieces. The repertoire is part of the decorative renewal that Moustiers experienced in the second quarter of the 18th century, when the old aux chinois models gave way to freer and more fantastical compositions.

The evolution of this language is closely linked to Joseph Olérys, and the diffusion of his models was wide and reached other workshops in Moustiers. Therefore, the repertoire of grotesques should be understood as an artistic language of broad circulation within Moustier production, born from the renewal driven by Olérys and developed subsequently by different painters and manufactories.

MOUSTIERS-SAINTE-MARIE
In Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region, one of Europe’s most renowned faience factories originated. In 1679, Pierre Clérissy founded the first workshop. He adapted Italian maiolica techniques to create tin-glazed pottery decorated by hand with great detail and, from the 18th century, several families developed their own style.

JOSEPH OLÉRYS and LA REAL FÁBRICA DE ALCORA, SPAIN
After an initial period related to the Clérissys, Olérys left in 1727 for the Real Fábrica de Alcora, Spain, where he held artistic and technical management roles. He returned to Moustiers in 1738 and, in 1739, founded his own manufactory with his brother-in-law Jean-Baptiste Laugier.

The Académie de Moustiers credits him with the creation and evolution of various repertoires, including grotesques, as well as a particularly important renewal of drawing and color usage.

The grotesques décor constitutes precisely an evolution of the previous décor aux chinois, introduced in Moustiers around 1735. According to the Académie de Moustiers, Olérys developed this new repertoire of grotesques on his return from Alcora, transforming it into a language characteristic of Moustiers.

The graphic tradition of French ornamental engravings is also a fundamental reference for these compositions. The repertoire closely approaches Jacques Callot’s imaginative world and the ornamental tradition of Jean Bérain. The Louvre houses a plate attributed to the Olérys-Laugier manufactory in which the grotesque figures are explicitly described as made "dans le genre de Jacques Callot".

DESCRIPTION OF THE SET
Moustiers pottery is a jewel of French ceramic heritage, valued worldwide, and this lot preserves the soul of Moustiers’ historic faience.

The quality of the white glaze is one of the traditionally recognized characteristics of Moustiers production and is evident in these pieces, where the entire decorative process was handmade with brush and steady hand, making each piece unique.

These trays are the direct result of the skill of an eighteenth-century Provencal potter-painter. Note the shrubs, the lines forming the ground (the terraces), and the faces of the figures where slight irregularities, variations in line thickness, and areas where green pigment is more concentrated or diluted confirm that the painter loaded the brush with more or less water and copper oxide in each manual pass. These subtle differences are the artisan’s fingerprint and proof of freehand work.

DECORATIVE LANGUAGE: "DÉCOR AUX GROTESQUES" AND THE CHARACTERS
The graphic tradition of French ornamental engravings is also a fundamental reference for these compositions. The repertoire of characters closely resembles Jacques Callot’s imaginative world.

The decoration of the two trays is organized around a essentially drawing-based conception. The brush builds the characters, outlines their features, and arranges the vegetation with strokes of varying thickness and intensity. Manganese is used to outline and structure forms, while green introduces color masses and establishes the composition’s main accents.

THE SHRUB-LAND STYLE: The small stylized terraces with fine lines of shrubs from which the central figure emerges are the decorative hallmark of this manufactory in the mid-18th century.
The small vegetal landscape accompanying the grotesque figures is an essential part of the repertoire: terraces, shrubs, and small bouquets do not function as mere secondary ornamentation but as the imaginary setting in which the characters are placed.

MORPHOLOGY (Chantournée Form): both trays feature a lobed or festooned edge (marli chantourné) typical of the Louis XV period (c. 1740–1760). This shape became popular in French ceramics to imitate the court’s silverware.

DATING: 1740-1750 (Louis XV period)
The pieces are dated to the mid-18th century, (Louis XV period), a time of technical splendor and fineness of the white glaze from the Moustiers-Sainte-Marie forges.

AUTHORSHIP
Authorship should be placed within the artistic realm generated around Olérys and Laugier and the painters trained in their manufactory. The factory gathered numerous artisans and painters who later played a prominent role in Moustiers. Pieces marked with the monogram “OL” accompanied by the painter’s initials are known, although the absence of a signature does not prevent recognizing a piece as belonging to the language developed in this circle.

TRAY 1 — GROTESQUE CHARACTER, BUFFOON-LIKE WITH A LEAF HEADDRESS – Grand Feu technique & monochrome green camaïeu decoration.

This tray presents an oval silhouette with a chantourné border, exteriorly traversed by a green band outlined with fine manganese traces.
The central field is dominated by a grotesque buffoonish figure on a small vegetative terrace. His features are resolved with free, dark lines that define the face, body, and the various elements of the figure.

His most singular trait is the headdress formed by three large green leaves, conceived almost as a vegetal crown. This element introduces a particularly fantastical note to the character and immediately links the figure to the vegetation rising from the terrace.

The base on which the character stands is treated as a small shrub with fine, quick strokes. From this core unfold leaves, bouquets, and floral motifs that spread around the figure without completely covering the white background. Thus the composition preserves the light and spontaneous character typical of grotesques, where the white glaze actively participates in space construction.

The marli extends the decoration with foliage and small floral motifs, while manganese outlining provides continuity between the character, the vegetation, and the edge. The brushwork retains evident agility, especially noticeable in the leaves and small plant groups.

• MARKING: The back bears a small green cross-shaped mark, accompanied by a dark sign or letter written by hand.

- The cross-shaped mark is attributed to kiln marks. There is abundant evidence in collecting and cataloging Old Provençal faience that many pieces decorated with green motifs bear exactly a cross on the reverse. The use of the green color “petite croix verte” is not incidental because Moustiers potters used the same high-fire metallic oxides from the front decoration to mark the piece before it went into the kiln.

- The Black Symbol: Painter’s Stock Mark
Historically, during the mid-18th century, the guild regulations of Provençal potters required traceability of the collective work, so this could be the painter’s signature or personal mark (marque de peintre) allowing the workshop master to identify the author of the painting to settle payment per finished piece and verify its technical quality before firing.

• DIMENSIONS:
Maximum length: 32.5 cm
Maximum width: 25.5 cm
Height: 3.5 cm

TRAY 2 — GROTESQUE FIGURE AMID FLOWERS AND VEGETATION – Grand Feu technique & monochrome green camaïeu decoration.

This second tray likewise features an oval shape with a chantourné border. The outer green band edged with manganese frames the piece and marks the transition between the decorative field and the piece’s contour.

In the center appears a grotesque figure integrated into a more developed vegetal composition. The character stands on a small terrace or shrub and is built with manganese lines defining silhouette and features, with green interventions accenting certain areas.

Unlike the first tray, here the vegetation takes on greater prominence. Flowers, leaves, and small bouquets are distributed around the figure and extend toward the marli, creating a denser, enveloping composition. The motifs remain, however, separated by the white glaze, preserving the light character of the decoration.

The flowers and foliage are treated with a combination of linear strokes and small green concentrations, while manganese defines the contours and adds depth to the drawing. The result is a composition in which the grotesque figure does not dominate the field but is incorporated into the small surrounding vegetal landscape.

The reverse shows no visible marking. This difference is part of each piece’s intrinsic characteristics and does not alter the close relation between the two pieces in shape, decorative repertoire, and pictorial treatment.

• DIMENSIONS:
Maximum length: 32.5 cm
Maximum width: 26 cm
Height: 3 cm

MARKS
The first tray bears a small green cross on the back, together with the dark sign that accompanies it, which could be the painter’s mark; the second lacks a visible equivalent mark.

Moustiers marks are extremely complex and never had a strict official regulation, therefore they do not constitute a single, uniform system. Historical documentation shows broad circulation of repertoires and procedures among the different Moustiers manufactories.

The Académie itself warns about the historical tendency to attribute to the Ferrat brothers an excessively wide set of pieces made feu de moufle, when other manufactories also used this procedure.

Therefore, although the design adheres completely to Olérys and Laugier’s workshop influence, the green cross acts as an identifier of firing batch and origin from the village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, more so than as a personal signature.

CONDITION
Both trays are in very good structural and aesthetic condition, especially considering their approximately 275-year age, showing wear appropriate to their age. The bubble effects (pique) and porosity are part of their history as they are part of their origin during grand feu manufacture and firing.
No cracks or restorations. The small losses of glaze on the most exposed areas of the contour leave the ceramic body visible. This is typical of aging of authentic old tin-glazed ware, as the glaze tends to crack or flake in the most vulnerable wear areas.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
• The photographs are part of the description.
• The indicated measurements and weight correspond to a configuration of secure packaging, essential to guarantee proper protection of the pieces during transport.