Vallauris Oyster Platter. French 1960s Majolica/Barbotine Seafood Platter

This is a very rare 1960's, vintage mid-century oyster platter/ seafood platter. It has 20 wells, 16 outer segments for oysters and 4 central segments for lemon slices. Incredibly tactile and very collectible. The small scenic town of vallauris is in the alpes-maritimes department of the provence-alpes -côte d'azur region of south-eastern france. It became world famous when picasso lived there in the 1940's and 1950's and majolica from vallauris is celebrated for its beautiful glazes and extraordinary shapes. This platter has been hand-painted in an expressive mid-century modern, highly textured design that typically characterizes the region’s pottery. The brown base glaze of this plate has been overlaid with a gorgeous mixture of bright yellow and "fiery orange/red" with a white "foam" that mingles with the surrounding glaze on the outer edges. Perfect as a seafood platter for a table centrepiece, anyone who collects majolica glazed mid-century pottery would love this wonderful piece. It is large measuring 45cms/ 17¾" long X 29cms/ 11½" wide, and is 3cms/ ¼" deep. It weighs 1.9kgs/ 4.1lbs. It is marked with the "vallauris" stamp on the underside, it is faint to detect against the dark glaze. In amazing condition, it has no chips or cracks. It does have the faintest beginnings of hairline crackle to the glaze, which is to be expected with the age of this platter. It in no way detracts from the beauty or quality of this wonderful item. A beautiful piece of vintage vallauris pottery!.

Ref. : ZJ9EF2S5