Timed well with the popularity of contemporary ceramics, Parisian auction house Tajan’s March 4 “Ceramics” sale offers some historical precedents. The highlight of the auction is the sale of the Jean and Liliane Derval Collection. Comprising some 70 lots of the total 329 in the sale is the work of Jean Derval (1925-2010), one of the most important post-war ceramicists. From 1948 to 1951, Derval worked in Vallauris, a town in the south of France so known for its pottery that Picasso worked there when he was trying his hand at the medium. Derval became Picasso’s thrower. He would then go on to establish his own school, Le Portail, where rather than creating a factory, he pursued the fabrication of “unique pieces” and created architectural works as well, such as monumental fountains and sculptures.
This sale will include some spectacular work by Derval from this period, including a 1955 enameled clay wall sculpture, “L’Ange De L’Annonciation,” of the Angel Gabriel in flight, estimated to sell for €20,000-30,000 (roughly $28,000-41,000). There will be a monumental 1980 chamotte clay sculpture of a couple seated on a bird, which was presented at the International Biennial of Vallauris that year and is also estimated at €20,000-30,000 ($28,000-41,000). A clay coffee table for €3,000-5,000 ($4,000-7,000), as well as numerous smaller charmotte clay sculptures and domestic anthropomorphic and zoomorphic pottery with strains of cubism and abstraction can be had for under €5,000 ($7,000), as well as small bowls and vases for under €1,000 ($1,400), and works on paper and photographs of Derval. Preceding the sale the Paris auction house will be holding a conference on the potter and sculptor on Monday, March 3, at 6 p.m.
Black metallic earthenware vases by 20th-century ceramicist Paul Bonifas, and porcelain figurines, bottles, and boxes by Art Deco design house Robj are also on offer, as are a graphite drawing by author and Picasso muse Francois Gilot, for €5,000-7,000 ($7,000-10,000), and a Picasso poster for a Vallauris exhibition.
