Art Nouveau Stoneware Gourd Cabinet Vase by Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat

After working nearly half his life as an itinerant faience painter and directing a production for commercial porcelain manufacturers, Dalpayrat’s eyes were finally opened to reveal his true calling. Ernest Chaplet had just won the gold medal at l’Exposition Universelle for his revolutionary sang-de-boeuf glazed stoneware. That same year, sparked by Chaplet’s revelatory creations, Dalpayrat moved to the hub of ceramic activity just southwest of Paris in Bourg-la-Reine to began extensive research into glazes and to begin producing stoneware. Featuring what has since come to be known as Dalpayrat Red, he exploded on the Parisian art scene in 1892 with the first of many shows at the prominent Galerie Georges Petit. One of the most critically acclaimed ceramists of his time, Dalpayrat was made Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur in 1900.