Auguste MAJORELLE (1825-1879) for the Toul-Bellevue faience - Lot 253

Auguste MAJORELLE (1825-1879) for the Toul-Bellevue faience factory. Pair of large baluster-shaped terra cotta vases with brown background, decorated in light polychrome and gilded relief in the Asian lacquer style with roosters, waders, pierced rocks, bamboo and aquatic plants. Mark on reverse with coat of arms and letter F. Circa 1880/1890. Zinc interiors (Dim.: 39 cm - Diam. (at neck): 29.5 cm) (some missing decoration). Auguste Majorelle was the father of Art Nouveau decorator and cabinetmaker Louis Majorelle, and grandfather of painter Jacques Majorelle. Born in Lunéville in 1825. He specialized in earthenware decoration from an early age, apprenticing at Lunéville's former royal factory, run by Keller and Guérin. There, he decorated earthenware based on 18th-century molds, before setting up on his own and marketing large earthenware stoves under the Majorelle brand. He quickly became a success, and his fame prompted the Aubry faience factory in Toul Bellevue to commission him to design models. He settled in Toul in 1858, working for the Aubry factory while opening an art and furniture store. This was the start of the Majorelle business. In 1860, he moved to Nancy, first to Faubourg Saint-Pierre, then to rue des Dominicains to set up his objets d'art store. In 1864, he obtained a patent for "oriental decoration on earthenware" and rediscovered the Martin varnish process applied to furniture decoration. Drawing on his experience with painted earthenware, he took an interest in this technique, which he personalized by adding metal powders. In 1878, he filed a new patent for "inlaid earthenware combined with lacquer decoration".