Roger CAPRON Ceramic Coffee Table, Vallauris France 1960s

Name: Roger CAPRON Ceramic Coffee Table, Vallauris France 1960s
Brand: Roger Capron
Price: 2769.06 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Roger Capron. Elegant coffee table named Herbier, in beige ceramic with fossilized vegetae pattern. Tinted wooden structure. Without handwritten signature, but undeniably identifiable by the unique quality work, the model and its measurements.. Circa 1960s French ceramist Roger Capron was born in Vincennes in 1922. He studied at Paris’s School of Applied Arts, graduating in 1943 and working for a time as an art teacher. In 1946, Capron moved to Vallauris in the south of France and co-founded the Atelier Callis ceramics workshop along with ceramists Robert Picault (1919-2000) and Jean Derval (1925-2010). The town of Vallauris, located along the Cote d'Azur, was widely known for its pottery production dating back to Roman times. In the postwar years, the town experienced a pottery renaissance, as a number of artists—including Picasso—flocked there to work with the ancient materials and techniques. Atelier Callis began to produce small household objects, purposefully humble and meant for everyday use. With the popularity of French ceramics at the time, however, Capron saw the opportunity to expand his output. In 1952, he parted ways with Picault and Derval and opened his own small manufactory, Atelier Capron, which employed around fifteen workers. After a few years, Capron had established an international reputation, with many of his pieces in department stores like as Saks Fifth Avenue and Gimbels. By 1980, his factory employed around 120 people and specialized in beautifully tiled coffee tables—the work for which Capron is most famous today. His success attracted imitators; in 1982, the factory shut down due to competition from makers of cheaper, mass-produced tiles. Much like Picasso, Capron’s design aesthetic was in constant evolution, as he worked in a variety of different styles from the 1950s onwards. In his early career, Capron was a proponent of the Formes Libres movement, characterized by undulating, expressionist lines and patterns. By the 1960s, however, he had moved on to a more controlled, modernist style, with bright glazes and bold geometric patterns. Toward the 20th century, Capron’s work—which ranges from coffee tables and side tables to jugs and vases—was thought to be cliché in France and was largely forgotten. Today, however, his pieces are again highly prized by collectors around the world. Capron won many awards over the course of his career, including gold medals at the 1954 Milan Triennale and Expo ’58 in Brussels. In 2000, the New York Times wrote that Capron was” one of the most prolific and valued artisans of postwar European design.” In 2003, the Sèvres National Ceramics Museum hosted a major retrospective of Capron’s work. He passed away in 2006.

Creator:

Roger Capron (Artist)

Dimensions:

Height: 11.03 in (28 cm)Diameter: 30.52 in (77.5 cm)

Style:

French Provincial (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Ceramic,Sandstone,Wood

Place of Origin:

France

Period:

1960-1969

Date of Manufacture:

1960

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

leucate, FR

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU7285237061912

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Roger Capron

Roger Capron is best known for his geometrically complex, vibrantly colored tile-topped coffee tables. These mid-century furnishings, with their comely palettes and playful arrangements of abstract forms or natural-world motifs, are approachable yet sophisticated. They draw on Scandinavian modernism and exemplify the Parisian ceramist’s belief in ensuring that things of beauty are easily and widely accessible, a principle espoused by French decorative artist and designer René Gabriel.

Capron graduated in 1943 from the School of Applied Arts in Paris. In a small atelier he later founded with Robert Picault and Jean Derval in Vallauris, Capron made alluring sculptures, table lamps and other objects and found inspiration in the work of Pablo Picasso, who had also opened an atelier in the region. He parted ways with his fellow ceramists in 1952 in order to open his own manufactory, Atelier Capron.

Initially staffed by a handful of workers, Atelier Capron captured international attention. His pieces were sold in stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Gimbels. Later, Capron’s wife, Jacotte, studied art and became a valued collaborator. Owing in part to her expertise in mixing pigments and glazes, Capron’s best-known ceramics feature dazzling colors and whimsical characters. Like Picasso, he experimented with many artistic styles and never settled on one technique for too long. His coffee tables, side tables and decorative objects are among the most enduring and coveted designs of the mid-century modern era.

While Capron’s factory had grown tenfold by 1980, it shut down a few years later after a slew of competitors began mass-producing cheaper imitations.

Capron won an award at the Milan Triennial in 1954 and International Grand Prize for Ceramics in 1970. His works have been displayed in the Musée National de la Céramique and the Musée Magnelli.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Roger Capron ceramics, tables and other decorative objects and furniture.