Cup With Solar Decoration By Victor Lucas - Manufacture De Keraluc - Brittany

Limited edition polychrome earthenware with crystallization effect.
Circa 1950.
Small chip on the back edge of the piece.
Diameter: 28 cm.
Thanks to Antoine Lucas for these details on his grandfather's work.
Victor Lucas (1897-1958) born on August 24, 1897 in Saint James (Manche), he grew up in Vire where his father had a stonemason business. Encouraged by his drawing teacher, he successfully attempted the entrance exam for the Sèvres School of Ceramics. Victor Lucas thus benefited from very advanced artistic training and then from high-quality technical instruction. In July 1922, he obtained his diploma as a ceramic engineer and immediately began looking for his first position. Jules Henriot, who wanted to modernize his Manufacture d'Art Breton in Quimper, received his application favorably. The economic context was particularly favorable with the real start of the tourist boom in the region. But this increasingly flourishing market was contested by a rival earthenware factory, the Jules Verlingue company, Bolloré & Cie. In this veritable economic war, called "the Jules War," the two manufacturers engaged in a constant battle. However, this fierce competition had positive aspects. First, a technical competition that allowed Victor Lucas to modernize the production tool. Then, a stimulating effect on the artistic level, the interwar period thus saw the second high point of Quimper ceramic creation after the success of Alfred Beau's productions and the first Breton decorations of the late 19th century. Many artists frequented the two earthenware factories at this time, each of which had its prominent figures: René Quillivic (1879-1969) at HB, Mathurin Méheut (1882-1958) for Henriot. The major international exhibitions in Paris encouraged the two manufacturers to surpass themselves. The 1925 edition honored them with numerous awards and helped to reveal the "Seiz-Breur" group, which aimed to renew Breton art by combining tradition and modernity. Their fight against "biniouserie" found a favorable echo with Victor Lucas. On the other hand, advocating the universality of art, he was critical of their concept of specifically Breton art and did not follow their nationalist claim. At the end of March 1941, he left Henriot for HB and, despite the difficult situation of the war, fully assumed his role as technical director. In May 1944, the end of hostilities finally opened up prospects for the future, Victor Lucas then resigned, with the idea of realizing his great project, the culmination of his career as an engineer: to create his own factory. Renewing Quimper earthenware and reviving Breton folk art, such was Victor Lucas's ambition when he founded the Kéraluc factory in 1946 (contraction of "ker ar Lucas" "Lucas's house").