"Cocteau Small Cup Nice French Riviera "
This small terracotta dish, 14.5 cm in diameter, depicts the profile of Orpheus with a lyre. Made in 1958, it was one of an edition of 68 unnumbered copies, referenced as No. 238 BIS on page 153 of the Céramiques catalogue raisonné. This dish (or ashtray) was one of three projects commissioned by RTF Nice Côte d'Azur: a plate that was produced but never published (see Proantic listing), a preliminary drawing that was not selected (see photo), and this small terracotta dish, a variant of the preliminary drawing. It was formerly in the collection of Raymond Fabre, a close friend of Cocteau and Picasso.