Edouard Gilles Vases

French Majolica pair of vases with flowers signed Edouard Gilles, circa 1880.

A stunning example of gros relief barbotine, this vase has large, paper thin kaolin clay flowers affixed to the hand-painted body. From the studio of Edoua...

The French equivalent of majolica, barbotine is a type of ceramic made from kaolin clay. Often used to make vases (such as this hand-painted one by Edouard Gilles, circa 1880), the clay is manipulated into a paper thin fineness and folded many times to form realistic flowers. The process is a painstaking one, as each flower take months to craft, and the smallest error could lead to damage when the vase was fired. Our vase has a variegated black to light gray background that is dotted with brown branches containing blue flowers with yellow stigmas. The gros (or high) relief flowers have been painted various shades of pink, complete with pale green and light blue leaves. A pair of small “ears”, also painted with gradient colors, flank each side of the oval opening. The bottom of the vase has several production marks, including an “E.G” for Edouard Gilles. Known for exquisite artistry in creating large relief decoration barbotine, Gilles owned and operated his atelier in Paris. Gilles was personally well received for his elaborate and naturalistic floral work. The studio had a relatively short production run (1868-1884), making our beautiful French barbotine vase...

Edouard Gilles owned and operated his atelier in Paris from 1868-1884. His shop or atelier was one of only a few of the period known for their exquisite artistry in large relief deco...

Edouard Gilles owned and operated his atelier in Paris from 1868 to 1884. He was known for his elaborate naturalistic gros relief floral work. The work to finish one realistic flower, let alone several was extremely involved and difficult to complete. The paper- thin fineness of the petals during the firing and glazing process could be totally ruined in minutes! Few pieces remain intact today due to this fragility of relief. This gros relief barbotine vase is impressed E G with the number 68 or 58 on the bottom of the vase. The ground colors go from a mottled deep black green at the top to a pale green at the bottom. Huge relief...

Edouard Gilles owned and operated his atelier in Paris from 1868-1884. His shop or atelier was one of only a few of that period known for their exquisite artistry in creating large r...