Very Important Art Nouveau Ceramic Dish Signed Edmond Lachenal

Exceptional and very important enameled ceramic dish signed Edmond LACHENAL and dated 1891 with floral decoration of poppy, wild oats, snapdragon and butterflies on a nuanced yellow background.

In very good condition and with remarkable dimensions (diameter 60 cm, thickness 10 cm).

Edmond Lachenal, pseudonym of Édouard Achille Lachenal, born June 3, 1855 in Paris, the city where he died, in the 7th arrondissement, on June 10, 1948, is a French ceramist, painter and sculptor. His father is Jean-Pierre Lachenal. Edmond Lachenal married Anna Cloarec. They have two children: Raoul and Jean-Jacques. Both will be recognized ceramists.

From 1867, Edmond Lachenal was an apprentice potter in Vaugirard with Victor Rouvier. In 1870, Edmond Lachenal joined the national guard, he was one of the volunteers in the 127th battalion. He was hired by Théodore Deck, a ceramist known for his technical innovations, for his writings and his creations. In 1875, Lachenal was exempted from military service. He becomes workshop manager at Deck. He created his own workshop in 1881 in Malakoff, then he moved to Châtillon-sous-Bagneux. He then transferred his workshop to no. 22 rue de Verneuil in Paris. Continuing the work of his master, Edmond Lachenal developed matte enamel “in pastel, velvety and frosty tones”, to use the expression of Maurice Rheims. This invention, recognized by sculptors as enhancing their works, allowed him to collaborate with several of them. He participates in numerous exhibitions. For the Universal Exhibition of 1889, he sent a pair of cream earthenware vases, decorated with red branches in relief. He also presented a service, decorated with animals, for Sarah Bernhard, which earned her a gold medal. It was the fame he then enjoyed that led the magazine Les Annales to order the table service from him. He was present at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, at the Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts from 1891, and at the Salon des artistes decorateurs of which he was an active member in 1904. Also in 1904, Edmond Lachenal abandoned ceramics and passed on his workshop to his son Raoul. He then turned to comedy and played with Sarah Bernhardt. He also devotes himself to easel painting and pastel. His name, however, continues to appear, for example, in the catalog of the Salon des artistes decorateurs of 1920, in which his son Raoul exhibited, it is mentioned his change of address to no. 1 rue Delannoy in Versailles. He was named knight of the Legion of Honor by decree of August 16, 1900 and officer by decree of December 30, 1933. Edmond Lachenal died on June 10, 1948 at his home in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, and was buried in the municipal cemetery of Châtillon