Accolay Pottery: Large Anthropomorphic Ceramic Sculpture Depicting A Female Figure

Accolay Pottery. Large sculpture, anthropomorphic flower vase in glazed ceramic, depicting a female figure with openwork sides. Typical polychrome glazes (yellow, ochre, blue), painted front decoration, signed "Accolay – FDM – 14" under the base. Very good overall condition. 1960s/70s. Dimensions: Height: 36.5 cm, triangular base: 12 cm. Once upon a time… Accolay Pottery 1945. In the village, many don't remember how they arrived: "They just arrived," some say, like arriving in Burgundy when you don't know where you're fleeing from. Their names were André Boutaud, Slavik Palley, Louis Dangon, and a man named Raude (or Rodet). Yet they hadn't come from so far away. After swinging to the sounds of jazz in the cellars of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, these four young men, who had refused to comply with the STO (Service du Travail Obligatoire – Compulsory Work Service), sought to disappear. They left Paris and found a welcoming haven in the ceramics workshop of the vocational high school in Mâcon, then run by the Cluny potter, Alexandre Kostanda. Kostanda, who would soon develop a delicate style in the vibrant Vallauris pottery alongside Jean Derval, Roger Capron, and Robert Picault, served as a mentor to the four young men. Accolay became their shared signature. It was a place where the idea of a pottery community was reinvented. Sincerely, Philippe Verdier