Vintage green ceramic ashtray by Jean Marais

Superb vintage ashtray/trinket dish signed Jean Marais. Round in shape, it is made of green glazed terracotta. Made in Vallauris in the 1980s. Known primarily as an actor, Jean Marais was also a director, writer, painter, sculptor, and ceramicist. It was in the 1950s that Jean Cocteau and Jean Marais discovered the potters of Vallauris during the festivities organized in honor of Picasso. After Cocteau's death in 1963, Jean Marais found a new medium of expression in ceramics. He trained with Jo Pasquali in Vallauris and in 1975 opened an art gallery in the same town. He settled in Vallauris in 1980 and was named an Honorary Citizen of the town in 1998, the year of his death. He is buried in the town's old cemetery. A beautiful gift for fans of the artist, lovers of Vallauris and antique pottery.