Basin Earthenware De Moustiers, Early Eighteenth Century.

This very beautiful basin is characteristic of the production "à la Bérain" produced, in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, in Moustiers ... Eric Amourdedieu, in the book of the Academy of Moustiers: "Moustiers faience of the seventeenth to Nineteenth century ", written about the decorations at the Bérain:" The decor in Bérain, inspired by the ornamental Jean Ier Bérain, has found applications in many areas of the decorative arts from the late seventeenth and throughout the first half of the 18th century: marquetry (André Charles Boulle scale), tapestry (Gobelins) ... and of course, ceramics. This majestic decoration is characterized by its symmetry around a central figure surrounded by intertwined sets of light lace, in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance. There are sometimes flat areas with geometric patterns (braces). The compositions are adorned with busts, cariatids inspired by Antiquities, precious canopies. It can also include animals (monkeys, birds ...) and grotesque or mythological characters that bring a touch of fantasy. In the field of ceramics, it has been a considerable success in Moustiers, where were made by the Clérissy manufacture some major pieces from the first quarter of the eighteenth century. The background is painted in blue monochrome, among scrolls, curves, counter-curves and other arabesques, under a sort of canopy consisting of a trellis and a drape, is a female bust placed on a pedestal, framed on each side a cariatid and a fox standing on its hind legs, the tail raised, it is erected on a saddle. The belly of curved form, with a plain edge, with lobed sides, is flanked, on each side, with masks as a catch, it is adorned with a Beratin frieze alternated with threads. In good general condition this basin has a slight crack and some jumps of enamel, its decor and shape are to be compared to a pond preserved in Moustiers and represented on page 276 of the catalog of the exhibition entitled: "Provençal earthenware and Ottoman ceramics Which took place in Marseille in 2006 and 2007. Period early eighteenth century, Moustiers manufactures Clérissy. Dimensions 35 cm x 21 cm, height 10 cm.