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Pair of vases

Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat learned to paint on porcelain in Limoges, Bordeaux and Toulouse. He opened his own ceramic factory in Bourg-la-Reine in approximately 1889.

In 1892, he teamed up with the sculptor Voisin-Delacroix to produce “stoneware and all other varieties of ceramic”. Voisin-Delacroix was responsible for modelling the shapes and Dalpayrat for the actual manufacture (firing, glazing, patinas). This artistic partnership came to an end in 1893 with the death of Voisin-Delacroix.

Dalpayrat is famous for stoneware in warm, sumptuous hues and a bull’s blood red cover coat with jasper blue or green highlights. He designed vases in the shape of fruits such as marrows and colocynths, whose surface he sometimes brought to life with fantastical animals or human and organic shapes. He worked with goldsmiths including Cardeilhac to create one-off pieces mounted on metal and produced porcelain or earthenware tableware.

At the Universal Exhibition in 1900, he exhibited two vases which were almost two metres tall, demonstrating considerable technical and artistic skill.