Enameled Plate On Lava.

Enamelled lava depicting an undergrowth: production of Maison Gillet treated like a painting. The lava painting process, invented in 1827, became known in the second half of the 19th century with Maison Gillet in its heyday. It provided the means for a more colorful architecture, an orientation which was expressed under the Second Empire. The architect Ignace Hittorf (1792-1867), as a precursor, used it in the form of immense paintings in Saint-Vincent de Paul in 1860. Numerous awards at universal exhibitions saluted the excellence of the production of François Gillet (1822 -1889) then his son Eugène (1859-1938). The latter collaborating with the emblematic architect of art nouveau Hector Guimard at the entrances to the Paris metro. Initially designed to illuminate architecture, the production will be available in decorative plates to adorn furniture and even in the form of a real painting. The plaque presented here falls into this category and the painter called to collaborate signed with his initials a creation which rivals the finesse of decorative earthenware.