Pair Of Vases - Jean Mayodon (1893–1967)

Pair of white tin-glazed earthenware vases
decorated with deer treated in relief,
green interiors and gilded feet.

France
1st half of the 20th century.
height 19 cm

Biography :
Jean Mayodon (1893-1967) is considered today as one of the greatest ceramists of his time. He was strongly inspired by Hindu and Persian arts as well as by the dancer Isadora Duncan, who marked him before the 1914 war. Mayodon produced ceramics with figurative decoration, in the antique style, characterized by the practice of tin-glazed earthenware with " golden fire". He produced monumental works (decorative panels, sculptures, fountains, fireplaces) of impeccable quality. He fitted out his own ovens and perfected his knowledge of chemistry to produce pieces with colored oxides, covered with a network of gold giving them a precious appearance. He was then solicited for many official orders.

Originally from Sèvres, where he lived and worked in his personal studio, Jean Mayodon was appointed, from 1934 to 1939, artistic adviser to the Manufacture, then artistic director in 1941 and 1942. During this short period, he created for the Manufacture more than eighty forms of vases. If he then abandoned earthenware, his favorite material, for porcelain, he remained faithful in the decorations to his main source of inspiration: a strong and joyful Antiquity evoked by rounds of tritons and sirens, dancers, heroes and gods. Mayodon's personal production also includes large-scale works: fountains, sculptures, decorative panels...intended for private homes, official buildings or large liners, such as the liner France, for which the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique entrusted Mayodon the realization of the fountain of the swimming pool in First class.