Plate thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Plate

ca. 1868-1869 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Joseph (Giuseppe) Devers (1823-1882) was born in Turin and trained as a painter and sculptor. After some work in Italy he moved to Paris in 1849 to further his training under Ary Scheffer and François Rude. He established his own pottery in rue Hallé, Montrouge, Paris, working there from 1853-1871, when he returned to Turin as Professor of Ceramics at the Accademia Albertina.

Devers designed both decorative wares and architectural ceramics, such as for the churches of La Trinité and St-Amboise, with panels made at the specialist tileworks of Maison Pichenot-Loebnitz. Throughout his career, his classical training underpinned his designs and was much influenced by the faience of the 15th century Della Robbia family of Florence. He was especially attracted to the rich background colours of blue or gold and frequently used motifs associated with Italian or French Renaissance ornament. This plate, although painted in realistic, contemporary style, refers to Italian maiolica portrait dishes of the 16th century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Earthenware, painted
Brief description
Plate, earthenware, Joseph (Giuseppe) Devers, Paris, France, ca. 1868-69
Physical description
Plate, painted in the centre with the portrait of a dark-haired woman in half-profile, the rim decorated in red with a border of masks and scroll foliage
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 33cm
Marks and inscriptions
'J' impressed (Impressed)
Subjects depicted
Summary
Joseph (Giuseppe) Devers (1823-1882) was born in Turin and trained as a painter and sculptor. After some work in Italy he moved to Paris in 1849 to further his training under Ary Scheffer and François Rude. He established his own pottery in rue Hallé, Montrouge, Paris, working there from 1853-1871, when he returned to Turin as Professor of Ceramics at the Accademia Albertina.

Devers designed both decorative wares and architectural ceramics, such as for the churches of La Trinité and St-Amboise, with panels made at the specialist tileworks of Maison Pichenot-Loebnitz. Throughout his career, his classical training underpinned his designs and was much influenced by the faience of the 15th century Della Robbia family of Florence. He was especially attracted to the rich background colours of blue or gold and frequently used motifs associated with Italian or French Renaissance ornament. This plate, although painted in realistic, contemporary style, refers to Italian maiolica portrait dishes of the 16th century.
Collection
Accession number
171-1869

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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