Frogabilia

Description

Rare Jean Besnard c1948 French Studio Pottery Lascaux Cave Inspired Ceramic Dish

Jean Besnard 1889-1958

BIOGRAPHY

Occupation: Ceramist, Furniture Designer
Movement: Art Deco

Famous Works
“Table Lamp,” 1923
“Emillage Noir Table Lamp,” 1930
“Leaf Pattern Cylindrical Lamp,” 1930
“Blue Glazed Ceramic Plate,” 1930

Jean Besnard is a French ceramic artist and furniture designer famous for his Art Deco ceramic lamps and vases. Besnard’s work is characterized by symmetrical forms, textured or patterned exteriors that are very often inspired by nature. Besnard’s work was at its most popular during the 1920s and 1930s, when the diversity of styles fostered by the Art Deco movement was beginning to expand. He died in 1958 leaving behind a body of work that both belongs to its time and is nevertheless timeless.

Origins
Jean Besnard was born in 1889 in Paris into a prolific and artistic family. His paternal grandparents had been popular painters in their day and his maternal grandfather was the sculptor Gabriel-Vital Dubray. His father was the famous painter and engraver Albert Besnard and his mother Charlotte Dubray was a sculptor. Besnard was the youngest of his siblings — he had three older brothers and an older sister, all of whom were also painters and sculptors.

Wide Exposure
As expected, he had an artistic upbringing in Paris in his parents’ home. As an engraver, his father was an active member of the decorative arts community and travelled abroad often to paint murals or etch engravings. In 1910, he travelled with his parents and siblings for nine months through Sri Lanka and India, visiting parts of Southern India and Rajasthan as well as visiting the cities of Mumbai and Puducherry. World War I broke out in 1914 and tragically for the Besnard family, the second-eldest son Robert died in the first year of the conflict.

Art Deco
In the 1920s, in the recovery period after World War I, Besnard began making a ceramic art following principles of the Art Deco movement. Accordingly, Besnard’s work reflected sleekness and elegance in form, representing modernist, anti-traditional sophistication and luxury. Throughout the 1920s, he created smooth, untextured forms occasionally decorated with geometric patterns. By 1930, Besnard was texturing the surface of his ceramics with leaf patterns, and nature-inspired patterns while still preserving the smooth symmetrical shapes on the interior.

Death
Jean Besnard died in Paris in 1958 at the age of 69 — despite being the youngest among his siblings, he was the first to die.

This is a small but very striking studio Ceramic Dish
The glaze emulates pre-historic artwork and the colour scheme in natural earth colours adds to the convincing effect.
Comes accompanied with label of auction description and estimate.

Dimensions:
14 cm in diameter, 3 cm high

Condition:
Little imperfection on the rim (scrape please see photos , some glaze loss but generally in good condition