Marie-henriette Bataille For Dour, Ceramic Dish, Stylized Bird Design In Bas-relief, Ca.

Rectangular dish with rounded corners, made of glazed ceramic, designed by Marie-Henriette Bataille for the Atelier de Dour, ca. 1960–1970.

The piece features a particularly graphic design of a stylized bird rendered in bas-relief, composed of elements modeled and applied to the surface. The plumage, legs, and head are deliberately simplified and punctuated by a combination of incised motifs and small raised dots, giving the piece a character that is both naive and highly decorative.

The glazed background, in nuanced shades of celadon and green-gray, has a vibrant and slightly irregular texture that contrasts with the dark brown of the central motif. The composition is characteristic of the artistic explorations at Céramique de Dour: simple forms, a clear decorative motif inspired by wildlife, and the perfect integration of the motif with the object’s shape.

This approach is part of the broad postwar European revival of artistic ceramics, running parallel in particular to the experiments conducted in Vallauris, France. This free and figurative spirit can be compared to certain works by Roger Capron, Robert Picault, or Jacques Blin, even though Céramique de Dour retains a very specific Belgian identity, more directly linked to mural art and the desire for art that is accessible and integrated into everyday life.

Dimensions: 33 × 23 × H. 3.5 cm.

Marie-Henriette Bataille (1931–2014) studied decorative arts in Antwerp before joining the Dour ceramics studio in 1952, where she officially became a studio artist in 1954. There, she worked alongside Roger Somville, Simone Tits, Thérèse Bataille, Claire Lambert, and Paul Timper.

At the time, the studio championed a collective approach to creation, combining simple forms, scenes from daily life, and flora and fauna, with a clear commitment to uniting the decoration with the object’s form. Marie-Henriette Bataille also contributed to several of the studio’s architectural and monumental projects. Her work gained international recognition when she won a gold medal in 1970 at the Faenza International Ceramics Competition.