Pair of Antique French Vases Made of Hand-Painted Unglazed Porcelain Representing Two Faces/Masks, Signed by Aladin

Set of two red and white porcelain vases, outlined in black, made in France. Hollow interior. Representing two expresive and detailed faces resembling teatrical masks, one on each side, with a base stamp signed by Aladin at the bottom.

By: Aladin
Material: porcelain, paint, ceramic
Technique: molded, pressed, unglazed, hand-painted, painted
Dimensions: 4 in x 9 in
Date: early 20th Century
Style: Art Déco, Art Nouveau, Belle Époque
Place of origin: France

During the late 19th and the early 20th century, French ceramics experienced their ‘Golden Age’. France provided the world’s wealthy and privileged with the finest quality ceramics. Somewhere between 1860 and 1890, French designers and ceramicists started to move away from the conventional aesthetics though. They were influenced by Japanese art, it’s asymmetry and it’s fascination with nature. Independent potters went even further and started creating completely different stoneware as a reaction to the prevailing style and working methods of the ceramics industry. This process converged with the emergence of Art Deco, which was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, who until late in the 19th century were considered simply artisans.

The early 20th century saw French porcelain undergo major stylistic shifts with the rise of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Art Nouveau porcelain featured organic, asymmetrical forms often with floral motifs, as seen in vases and figurines by manufacturers like Longwy and Primavera. The sleek machine aesthetic of Art Deco eclipsed Art Nouveau by the 1920s. Major firms like Sèvres and Lalique began producing porcelain with the geometric patterns, metallic accents, and stylized figures emblematic of Art Deco. Artists like Eileen Gray and Jean Dunand contributed their modernist designs to Sèvres porcelain. The 1925 Paris Exposition provided a venue to showcase these innovative porcelains to the world. In both aesthetics, French porcelain expressed the modern spirit of its time.