Georges Jouve

Private collection, France

In 1951, ceramists Jeanne and Norbert Pierlot acquired the Château de Ratilly, which they transformed into a potters' center, a place for creation, exhibitions and artistic encounters. Georges Jouve and his wife spent the summer of 1953 at Ratilly. In contact with the Pierlots and local production, Jouve delivered several stoneware pieces.

The following year, Jouve left his Parisian studio to settle in Aix-en-Provence. He returned to Ratilly in 1962 for the Grès d'aujourd'hui ici et d'ailleurs exhibition, which brought together the leading potters of the day. It was during this stay that our Bonbonne was made, marked “Ratilly” and dated 1962.

Here, Jouve takes up the shape of the Bonbonne he had designed in 1955, but abandons his signature black enamel in favor of local Puisaye techniques. The work is adorned with a glazed surface composed of shades of ochre and brown, punctuated by inclusions of basalt pyrite.

Here, Jouve reinterprets one of his major works, whose supple, uncluttered design was chosen by journalists Michel Faré, Renée Moutard-Uldry and Norbert Pierlot to illustrate the cover of the monograph published in tribute to the artist in 1965.