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Art Nouveau Ceramics

ART NOUVEAU STYLE

In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, antique Art Nouveau furniture reflects a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau movement developed in the decorative arts in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States.

ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Sinuous, organic and flowing lines
  • Forms that mimic flowers and plant life
  • Decorative inlays and ornate carvings of natural-world motifs such as insects and animals 
  • Use of hardwoods such as oak, mahogany and rosewood

ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

ANTIQUE ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Art Nouveau — which spanned furniture, architecture, jewelry and graphic design — can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. Although Art Deco and Art Nouveau were both in the forefront of turn-of-the-20th-century design, they are very different styles — Art Deco is marked by bold, geometric shapes while Art Nouveau incorporates dreamlike, floral motifs. The latter’s signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames.

The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. Impressionist artists were moved by the artistic tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and Japonisme — a term used to describe the appetite for Japanese art and culture in Europe at the time — greatly informed Art Nouveau. 

The Art Nouveau style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants.

In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bed frames and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers. 

The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.

Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass. 

Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).

Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.

There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.

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Style: Art Nouveau
Color:  Beige
Vienna Art Ceramics Art Nouveau Figure Putto Riding A Duck By Doblinger, Ca 1910
Located in Vienna, AT
Excellent Viennese Art Nouveau Ceramic Piece: Blond boy sitting astride the duck decorated with colourful flower garlands, resting his hands on his knees. The group is based on an ov...
Category

1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Vienna Art Ceramics Art Nouveau Figure Putto Riding A Rooster By Doblinger, 1910
Located in Vienna, AT
Excellent Viennese Art Nouveau Ceramic Piece: Blond boy sitting sideways on a rooster decorated with colourful flower garlands and holding on to its comb and plumage. The group is ba...
Category

1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Large Goldscheider Art Déco Figurine 'Helena', Allegory of Beauty, circa 1925
Located in Vienna, AT
Very large and rare Goldscheider Vienna ceramic figurine: Art Déco execution of an Art Nouveau design around 1909: young woman as the personification of beauty, with hair tied at th...
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1920s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Sandstone Sculpture by Jens Jacob Bregnø Female Venus Figure, Illums, 1930s
Located in Odense, DK
Large beautiful figurative sculpture by Danish artist Jens Jacob Bregnø in jugend style. The sculpture is made of raw sandstone and is signed by the ...
Category

1930s Danish Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Sandstone

Large Goldscheider Art Déco Figurine 'Helena', Allegory of Beauty, circa 1920
Located in Vienna, AT
Very large and rare Goldscheider Vienna ceramic figurine: Art Déco execution of an Art Nouveau design around 1909: young woman as the personification of beauty, with hair tied at the nape of the neck, head tilted to the side and looking down, covering the nakedness of her shapely body only at the legs with a large cloth...
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1920s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Ceramic Sculpture Signed Friedrich Goldscheider. Austria, circa 1900
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Ceramic woman with sled sculpture signed Friedrich Goldscheider. Austria, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Pair of Glazed Ceramic Flower Vases by Delphin Massier, France, circa 1890
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Pair of glazed ceramic flower vases by Delphin Massier, France, circa 1890.
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Tiffany & Co NY Joseph Hancock Royal Doulton Ptarmigan Painted Porcelain Plate
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A rare antique Royal Doulton hand painted decorative porcelain cabinet plate titled Ptarmigan and painted by Joseph Hancock and retailed by Tiffany & Co, New York and dating to the e...
Category

Early 20th Century English Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Porcelain

Guiseppe Carli Signed, Polychrome Ceramic Bust of an Arab Head
Located in Verviers, BE
Head bust face statue from Belgium by Guiseppe Carli, (1915-1987) ceramic. Signed. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any further questions. ...
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1930s Belgian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Art Nouveau Tile Panel Société Céramique Hasselt, Belgium, C1900
By Manufacture de Céramiques Décoratives de Hasselt
Located in Verviers, BE
A set of four beautiful art nouveau wall tiles in a wooden frame. Each individual tile is approximately 8" square and is in very good to excelle...
Category

1890s Belgian Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Glazed Ceramic Vase, Italy, Early 20th Century
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Glazed ceramic vase, Italy, early 20th century. Signed Faenza Di Napoli.
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

William Moorcroft Liberty & Co Forget Me Not and Rose Pattern Art Pottery Bowl
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A stylish art pottery bowl made for Liberty & Co decorated with tube lined Forget Me Not’s and Rose’s forming garlands around the body of the bowl by William Moorcroft (British, 1872...
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Early 1900s English Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Art Nouveau Ceramic Wash Bowl and Pitcher Set, 1900s
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Stunning Art Nouveau wash bowl and pitcher set. Striking Belgium design from the 1900s. Marked with makers stamp. In good original condition w...
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Early 1900s Belgian Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Ceramic Majolica Decorative Round Fruit Plates, Set of 7, Portugal
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
Set of seven ceramic Majolica fruit plates. This beautiful set features two maroon raspberry plates, two apple plates, two strawberry plates and ...
Category

20th Century Portuguese Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

Glazed Ceramic Jardiniére, Art Nouveau Period, France, Early 20th Century
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Glazed Ceramic Jardiniére. Art Nouveau period, France, early 20th century.
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Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Art Nouveau Villeroy and Boch Saxony Poppy Porcelain Egg Cups
Located in New York, NY
Set of four Jugendstil Saxony Poppy porcelain egg cups by Villeroy and Boch, Dresden, Germany, dating between 1874- 1909. Beautiful stylized Art No...
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Late 19th Century German Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Porcelain

Modern Pietro Melandri and Paolo Zoli Ceramic Vase
Located in Roma, IT
Italian artists Pietro Melandri and Paolo Zoli glazed majolica round shaped vase for ’La Faiance’. Faenza Italy 1915 ca. This wonderful little masterpiece, depicting floral in shade...
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1910s Italian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Mocha Set Dagobert Peche Circle Gmunden Ceramics Made, circa 1919
Located in Vienna, AT
Most elegant mocha set for six persons made of cream white ceramics / glazed and partially black painted / very interesting stylized monochrome pattern: It is strongly influenced by designs created by Dagobert Peche ! We're presenting here: Lidded mocha pot...
Category

1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Majolica Plate with Butterfly and Fruits, circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica plate with a purple butterfly on the centre surrounded by fruits, circa 1890.
Category

1890s French Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Majolica Iris Basket Sarreguemines, circa 1920
Located in Austin, TX
Large Majolica basket with iris flowers signed Sarreguemines, circa 1920.
Category

1920s French Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Vienna Art Ceramics Art Nouveau Figure Putto Riding on a Cock by Doblinger, 1910
Located in Vienna, AT
Excellent Viennese Art Nouveau Item Modelled by Ferdinand Doblinger (1872-1935), circa 1910. Manufactured by 'Wiener Kunstkeramische Werkstätte...
Category

1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Ceramic Tray with Metall Montage and Oriental Motiv from the 1920s
Located in Vienna, Austria
This tray was produce by the ceramic manufacture Jílové near Decín in the Czech Republik. Production started after 1918 and continued through the 1920s. The Jugendstil metal montage...
Category

1920s Czech Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Metal

Pair of Glazed Ceramic Woman, Art Nouveau Period, Vienna, circa 1900
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Pair of glazed ceramic woman. Art Nouveau period. Vienna, circa 1900.
Category

Early 1900s Austrian Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Pair of Glazed Ceramic Vases, France, Late 19th Century
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Pair of glazed ceramic vases. France, late 19th century.
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Vase Dagobert Peche Gmunden Ceramics Model 290 Made circa 1919
Located in Vienna, AT
Elegant vase  made of cream white ceramics / glazed and partially black painted very interesting stylized pattern Bibliography: Waltraud Neuwirth, Markenlexikon fuer Kunstgewerb...
Category

1910s Austrian Vintage Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Liberty Butterfly Vase in Pink White Green Majolica Ceramic
Located in Barcelona, ES
Gorgeous Italian butterfly glazed ceramic vase from the Liberty period in pastel colors. Italy, circa 1920s-1930s. This highly decorative ceramic vase is in excellent condition. Mera...
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Pottery, Ceramic

Classic Sculpture in Biscuit on Base, Gustafsberg, Dated 1910, Siblings
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Classic sculpture in biscuit on base, Gustafsberg, dated 1910. Siblings. Measures 30.5 cm. x 20 cm. In perfect condition. Stamped. Gustafsberg, PS.
Category

Early 1900s Danish Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Majolica Plate with Butterfly and Fruits, circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica plate with a purple butterfly on the center surrounded by fruits, circa 1890.
Category

1890s French Antique Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic, Faience

Massier Vallauris, Vase, Two Ashtrays and a Holder Formed as an Insect
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Massier Vallauris, Nice. Art Nouveau ceramics, France, early 20 century vase, two ashtrays and a holder formed as an insect. Hallmarked: Nice, Mas...
Category

20th Century French Art Nouveau Ceramics

Austrian Huge Ceramics Keramos Vase Designed by Susi Singer, circa 1925
Located in Vienna, AT
Austrian Huge Ceramics Vase 'Four Seasons' deriving from Keramos / Vienna manufactory, designed by Susi Singer (1895 - 1965) made circa 1925 Excellently manufactured ceramics vase of most interesting shape: The bellied vase of tapering type stands...
Category

Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Ceramics

Carl Klimt Most Lovely Art Nouveau Cherub Figurine on Lid of Bowl, circa 1910
Located in Vienna, AT
MOST LOVELY ART NOUVEAU CHERUB FIGURINE ATTACHED TO LID OF BOX / BOWL MADE CIRCA 1910 MODELLED BY CARL KLIMT (BORN 1876 IN TEPLITZ - DIED 1945 IN ZINNWALD / BOHEMIA) ...
Category

Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Bertold Löffler Vienna Lidded Round Bowl with Cherub En Miniature, circa 1912
Located in Vienna, AT
Round bowl with dual domed lid, with cherub en miniature attached to top piece / further, a garland of flower's blossoms with leaves is laid on lid of bowl. Made circa 1912 Modelled by Bertold...
Category

Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Ceramics

Materials

Ceramic

Art Nouveau ceramics for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Art Nouveau ceramics for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage ceramics created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include serveware, ceramics, silver and glass, decorative objects, wall decorations and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with ceramic, earthenware and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Art Nouveau ceramics made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Germany pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original ceramics, popular names associated with this style include Sarreguemines, Amphora, Villeroy & Boch, and Delphin Massier. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for ceramics differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $50 and tops out at $57,500 while the average work can sell for $954.

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