Basin decorated with animals, shells, and plant motifs, earthenware with coloured glazes. France, follower of Bernard Palissy, 1600-50

Large dish decorated with reptiles, fish and amphibians cast from life

Bought from the Soulages Collection

When acquired this dish was described as 'Palissy ware' and later as 'probably made by Bernard Palissy, second half 16th century'.
It was purchased from the Soulages collection.

The Louvre in Paris has an almost identical dish (see Amico, fig. 108) and describes it as 'School of Bernard Palissy, 1600-50. The following text is from the Louvre website:
This long oval dish is an illustration of one of the most remarkable types of French glazed earthenware from the 16th century onward. Its surface is decorated with animals, shells, and plant motifs in relief, all harmoniously arranged and molded to imitate nature. Traditionally presented as a work of Bernard Palissy, the master of the form of ornamentation known as "rustic figulines," this dish is now thought to be a later work by scholars.
Long considered a work by Bernard Palissy, a recent theory has dated this dish to the period immediately following that of the master. Indeed, numerous emulators perpetuated the creation of "rustic figulines" long after Palissy's death. The large number of surviving dishes are an illustration of the persistence of this taste for artifice and fantasy. In the 19th century, the vogue for major historical figures led to the rediscovery of Bernard Palissy. Ceramists began to research the methods of their distant predecessor, while giving free rein to their imagination. Among them was Charles-Jean Avisseau, one of whose works is in the Louvre.

More recent research (see Techne, no.47, 2019) into museum collections and into excavated material has shown that many of the plateaus and dishes referred to as ‘rustiques figulines’ can be attributed directly to the workshop of Bernard Palissy. Because of the clay composition of a large number of these works, there is a strong suggestion that they were made in his workshop in Saintes, but this is not definitive. They are largely dated to 1555 to 1565, prior to the documented time Palissy was working in Paris.

Bernard Palissy was the most innovative and original ceramist of the French Renaissance. A man of multiple talents and interests, he was at once a favourite of the Catholic royal family and nobility of France, and an ardent Protestant who was often punished for his beliefs.
Trained as a glass painter, with a keen interest in the natural world and geology, he published serious studies of natural history and lively accounts of the long struggle and desperate financial straits to which he was driven to perfect the modeling, firing and glazing of his ceramics. Palissy studied the chemistry of glazes and by 1567 had set up a kiln on the grounds of the Palais des Tuileries in Paris for which he was commissioned to make a grotte rustique by Catherine de' Medici, daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. It was never completed.
Palissy is best known for his rustique figulines : basins, ewers and dishes decorated with plants and animals skillfully cast from life and vividly coloured glazes. The life casting of animals and plants was already practiced by some contemporary goldsmiths but Palissy was the first to apply the process to ceramics. Having perfected his first rustic basin around 1555, Palissy was presented to Henri II, who praised and purchased it. Such elevated patronage confirms the high status of Palissy's ceramics, which reflect the growing interest of the period in practical knowledge and empirical understanding of the natural world, its curiosities and phenomena.

By Bernard Palissy or close follower

Bernard Palissy was the most innovative and original ceramist of the French Renaissance. A man of multiple talents and interests, he was at once a favourite of the Catholic royal family and nobility of France, and an ardent Protestant who was often punished for his beliefs.
Trained as a glass painter, with a keen interest in the natural world and geology, he published serious studies of natural history and lively accounts of the long struggle and desperate financial straits to which he was driven to perfect the modeling, firing and glazing of his ceramics. Palissy studied the chemistry of glazes and by 1567 had set up a kiln on the grounds of the Palais des Tuileries in Paris for which he was commissioned to make a grotte rustique by Catherine de' Medici, daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. It was never completed.
Palissy is best known for his rustique figulines : basins, ewers and dishes decorated with plants and animals skillfully cast from life and vividly coloured glazes. The life casting of animals and plants was already practiced by some contemporary goldsmiths but Palissy was the first to apply the process to ceramics. Having perfected his first rustic basin around 1555, Palissy was presented to Henri II, who praised and purchased it. Such elevated patronage confirms the high status of Palissy's ceramics, which reflect the growing interest of the period in practical knowledge and empirical understanding of the natural world, its curiosities and phenomena.

7169-1860