Vase Boule Gilbert Méténier blue Gannat

Superb ansé ball vase in richly enamelled sandstone, circa 1930. Perfect general condition. Without any signature but certain attribution to gilbert méténier. A bit of history: Gilbert méténier was born in 1876 in moulins, son of louis méténier, born in 1844, potter and ceramist settled in gannat in the allier. He succeeded his father in 1920 and ensured the fame of the grès d'art méténier. From 1928 to 1940, the workshop had 11 to 13 workers of both sexes. The kaolin needed to make the sandstones came from the beauvoir deposit in échassières. The enamelling of the parts, carried out mainly with a brush, required chemical powders supplied by the rhône-poulenc factories. No catalogue of both utilitarian and decorative production is known; Clients received and representatives presented sketches or photographs – by local photographer jules faucheux – of separate or group rooms, mainly for wedding gifts. Representatives also had at their disposal miniature samples of vase models to show the engobe and colors available. It should be noted that the color red seems not to have existed in the production. The art sandstones produced by gilbert méténier widely used the techniques of iridescence and crystallization (crystalline enamels) for the decoration of surfaces. The activity continued until 1940, when gilbert méténier would have destroyed all the mussels "so that they do not fall into the hands of the occupier"; .

Ref. : DRGCXFQQ