A brown-glazed stoneware vase, by Jules-Claude Ziegler or Alexandre Louis, circa 1840-1850 | Vase en grès brun, France, par Jules-Claude Ziegler ou Alexandre Louis, vers 1840-1850

Jules-Claude Ziegler (1804-1565) was an artist active across mediums, often best known for his large-scale ceiling painting of the Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Paris, which depicts the history of Christianity and took four years to complete. He was also the curator of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, and wrote several books on the principles of beauty across art forms, photography and colour theory. His ceramics practice, starting in the 1840s, was based in Voisinlieu: his work was unconventional in its use of dark stoneware and for its roughly-hewn decorative style in archaic shapes. Similar ceramic works to the present lot can be seen in collections such as the V&A (acc. no. 4075-1901), and pictured in J. Werren, Jules Ziegler, peintre, céramiste, photographe, 2009, p. 66. An identical vase was sold at Pierre Bergé et Associés, Paris, 10th June 2013, lot 214.