Odetta Vase With Stylized Flower Motifs

Style:Brittany ceramics circa 1930

Condition:Very Good condition

Technique:enamelled ceramics

Other: Marked under the base HB QUIMPER ODETTA, 524 (2)

Dimensions:

Height 22 cm

Diameter at body: 18 cm

Shipping France: 35 €

Other: please consult us

Rare ball vase with flared neck,

This piece, whose decoration is not repertoried with these motifs, features high-quality execution.

At Quimper , Jules Verlingue, who had taken over the HB factory (after running the Madeleine earthenware factory in Boulogne-sur-Mer ), wanted to radically renew Quimper production. He therefore launched into the manufacture of decorated stoneware, favored by a luxury clientele. He was behind one of Quimper's most striking creations: Odetta" high-fired art stoneware.

The clay is drawn from the Toulven cove on the banks of the river Odet, giving the brand its name "Odetta" as early as 1922.

"The originality of Odetta production lies, in addition to the creation of new shapes, in the decoration technique employed. Traditionally, Quimper earthenware is decorated by applying ceramic colors, by the touch, on raw glaze or cookie.

For stoneware, we are faced with a cloisonné process, dear to Longwy. The outline of the decoration is traced with manganese, a refractory oxide. The reserves, thus traced with a freehand brush or according to the dotted lines left by the poncif, are filled by enamels applied dropwise with an ox-eared brush.

The enamels, to adhere well to the support, contain a decoction of fucus, a seaweed with which the coast abounds. It is thanks to the use of glazes, in substitution for colors, that the chromatic palette finds all its power. The same is true of Quimper earthenware, known the world over for its vivid tones.

Each vase is normally numbered twice (exceptions are not uncommon). The first, usually three digits, identifies the shape. The second, with four digits, identifies the decoration.

There is no single inspiration in the decoration of HB stoneware. This is fortunate, and perfectly reflects the spirit of Art Deco, more protean than some might imagine, drawing inspiration from many sources, but always in search of rigor. And rigor is perfectly suited to the stoneware material.

Aside from geometric figures, the decoration is sometimes thematic. It may evoke Brittany, its fauna, flora and people, but it doesn't get bogged down in regionalism. ...

The harmony of the Odetta, beyond the decoration, is due to the richness of the range of glazes. Glossy or matte, depending on the desired effect...A cameo of ochre and a blue with the depth of Sèvres are particularly remarkable. Used in layers of varying thickness, enamel allows for moiré effects, which experienced painters can render to perfection.

The creation of decorations requires experience, dexterity and an aesthetic sense. The artists instruct the painters, but do not carry out the work themselves. Given the qualities required, only a few people will be entrusted with the execution of important pieces. As each painter affixed a distinctive mark to the bottom of the vase, it appears that only three painters were, over the years, the talented authors of most of the large pieces.

The majority of the small vases and a good half of the large pieces remained anonymous and, in the absence of archives, most will remain so. We can only regret the excessive modesty of their creators, and the low regard in which their talent was held at the time.

Restrictly speaking, those whose signatures on the bottom of the vases are in the catalogs of the Grande Maison shed some light on the story, their names are Chanteau, Fouillen, Brisson Garin, Beauclair, Renaud or Rol..."

Text taken from the book Odetta, Co-written by Bernard Jules Verlingue and Jacques Glérant published by the Friends of the Musée de la Faïence , December 1999