By Charles Lemanceau
Located in Valladolid, ES
Outstanding pair of greyhounds sculpture made in glazed ceramic by Charles Lemanceau, one of the most important sculptors or potters of the French Art Deco period, especially renowned for his animal sculptures (bestiary). The main characteristic of his figures is the stylization of the forms, as can be seen in this case. The most spectacular is the colour and finish of the glazed ceramics, in an impressive jade green. Both are represented jumping, but each one is captured at a different moment, as if between the two they configured a complete jump. A dynamic piece but full of elegance.
Glazed pottery is the product of firing a piece of clayey clay that is plastered or glazed. This pottery process, called vitrification (or glaze), is achieved with a varnish based on lead or other substances. Although some sources attribute its invention to China in the 3rd century BC. C., and its arrival in the West in ancient Rome, there are earlier testimonies in the Ancient Near East, or Babylonian pottery. In fact, the use of glazed ceramics to embellish walls has been used in Islamic art since the Middle Ages, giving rise to tiles.
Charles Lemanceau (1905 - 1980) was born and studied in Paris. He graduated from the School of Applied Arts and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in 1923. From 1923, following the L'Art pour tous movement launched by Victor Prouvé, he worked for the Printemps Primavera art workshops, especially with the sculptor Chassaing, and through his creations for the Saint-Clément earthenware factory, as well as for the Sainte-Radegonde earthenware factory or for the Louis Lourioux establishments.
In 1925, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne with such artists as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Le Corbusier, Henri Matisse. During his military service he sculpted the bust of Ambroise Paré for the Val de Grâce...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Charles Lemanceau Sculptures