Auguste Delaherche (1857-1940) was born in Beauvais and trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. He worked as a restorer of stained glass, a designer of religious jewellery and as director of the electroplating department at the Christofle company in Paris. After this very mixed experience, he made his first pots in salt glazed stoneware, inspired by folk traditions, at L'Italienne pottery, Goincourt. In 1887 he bought the workshop of Ernest Chaplet in rue Blomet, Paris and became a full time potter. Delaherche's experiments with high temperature glazes and different firing techniques provided him with an extensive range of colours and surface effects, as on this vase. In this he may have been influenced initially by Chaplet, already acknowledged as a master. Delaherche displayed a selection of his work at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, in 1887 to much acclaim.

Delaherche was awarded a gold medal at the international exhibition, Paris, 1889 and his wares, made in multiples, were very much in demand thereafter. In 1894, the year this vase was acquired by the Museum, he left Paris for Armentières near Beauvais to work quietly in the country, concentrating increasingly on plain forms and specialist glazes. This vase seems to herald this move. By 1904, like many of his contemporaries, he began working in porcelain as well as in stoneware, and dispensing with assistants, he concentrated solely on unique wares.