Vase

Émile Müller & Company, Ivry-sur-Seine, France, before 1900

Glazed and painted porcelain

H: 15 cm

Unmarked

UMP 9508

An egg-shaped porcelain vase with an indented neck decorated with a semi-matte glaze using tin oxide and copper sulphide, which turns dark red with shades of grey-blue after firing.

Purchased for the museum’s collections at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris.

Architect E. Müller founded his company “Grande Tuilerie” in Ivry Port in 1854, which initially produced ceramics for use in architecture. From 1884 he produced glazed terracotta, which was used for architectural decoration. He exhibited his products and innovations at world expositions, earning a number of awards (Amsterdam 1883, Chicago 1893, Brussels 1897). After the death of the founder, his son renamed the company Émile Müller & Company. By the turn of the century, the owner was working with numerous artists who sought out the ceramic properties which the company had developed. Among the most well-known artists were Eugène Grasset, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alexandre Charpentier and Hector Guimard.