Art Deco Round Glazed Model 172J Stoneware Vase with Stylized Bestiary Frieze of Birds, Fish, and Fruit by Mougin Nancy & Gaston Ventrillon, 1925-1930

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Joseph (1876–1961) and Pierre Mougin (1880–1955), ceramicists from Nancy and from a family of glassmakers, navigated the Art Nouveau and … Read more Joseph (1876–1961) and Pierre Mougin (1880–1955), ceramicists from Nancy and from a family of glassmakers, navigated the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods while maintaining a comprehensive approach to high-fire techniques—from preparing the clay to firing.

In 1919, they began their research into engraved and geometric decorations; in 1925, Joseph won the Grand Prize for Art Ceramics at the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs.

Among the many artists whose work was produced by the workshop were the Ventrillon brothers, including Gaston Ventrillon the Younger (1897–1982), a painter, draftsman, and engraver trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy. He won a bronze medal at the 1925 Exposition and traveled to North Africa in 1930, an experience whose decorative geometries would later inform his bestiary.

Model 172J—a vase with a flattened spherical body, a narrow neck with a rounded lip, and a ringed foot—is here adorned with a continuous frieze engraved in bas-relief: stylized birds, fish, fruits, and flowers follow one another across the upper body in a continuous register, beneath a two-zone glaze—matte sandy brown in the upper section and iridescent flame blue in the lower section.

This style is reminiscent of Gaston Goor or André Metthey, but with the Lorraine naturalism characteristic of the Nancy school. It is signed "Mougin Nancy France / Ventrillon" in relief under the base. This piece has an attribution mark,
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