This vase is typical of Dalpayrat's preoccupation with colour and glaze effects. Dalpayrat is perhaps best known for his work in stoneware although he also worked in earthenware and porcelain. The elevation of stoneware to an art medium in France followed the exhibition of traditional Japanese wares in Paris in 1878. Japanese style also prompted an altogether looser aesthetic, with an interest in organic forms, rich surface patination, and abstracted decoration.

Pierre-Adrien Dalpayrat (1840-1910) was born in Limoges. He was a very experienced maker by 1889 when he set up in Bourg-la-Reine, near Paris. There he collaborated with other makers but also, with his wife and three sons, he ran what was effectively a small family workshop. Like several of his contemporaries, Dalpayrat aimed to make reasonably priced artistic stoneware with coloured glazes. A highly commercial maker, working at this date with (Mlle) Adèle Lesbros & cie, he perfected a rich red glaze known as Rouge Dalpayrat. He won a gold medal at the international exhibition held in Chicago, 1893