Some New Majolica Reproductions

It seems I can’t go online anymore without coming across another new majolica reproduction. I’ve written about many of them on this blog. Here are a few new ones that I’ve seen. The difference in quality between the originals and the copies speak for themselves.

This first one is a copy of a George Jones game terrine base adapted into a jardiniere. The unglazed sections should be an immediate red flag to any buyer because an antique piece would never leave a surface piece bare. The game terrine that it is adapted from is posted below it. For more awful George Jones reproductions I’ve written about in the past go here.

Reproduction jardinière

George Jone majolica game terrine

This next one is an adaptation of a Minton teapot converted into a pitcher. The quality of this one is exceedingly poor.The Minton piece it is mimicking is also posted below it. For other poor Minton reproductions go here.

Reproduction rooster pitcher

Minton majolica cockeral teapot

This is another reproduction of an antique rooster piece, a copy of a French Onnaing animal pitcher. For more on the faïencerie at Onnaing go here.

Reproduction rooster pitcher

Onnaing majolica Coq Chante Clair Pour La France

Here is another copy of a French pitcher, this copy much worse than the one above. The original is by the faïencerie at Orchies, L’Herminé et Cie. It is glazed in the manner of Mexican dripware.

Modern duck pitcher

Orchies majolica Canard pitcher

This figural pitcher is a copy of a well known pottery form, the toby jug. The maker of the original is unidentified but what makes this reproduction interesting is the fake English Registration mark on the base. Clearly the maker had no understanding of the system because it bears only a passing resemblance to the real thing. It would never fool a pro buyer but that isn’t the market it is aimed at. It is for the buying novice with limited knowledge. For more on the English Registration system go here.

Modern toby pitcher

Reproduction toby pitcher with fake 

English Registration mark

Majolica toby jug

This next modern piece is a reworking of a Minton cheesebell base from their bee skep cheese keeper.

Modern majolica style stand

Base to the Minton majolica bee skep cheese keeper

Minton majolica bee skep cheese keeper

This final one is an incredibly bad copy of a Forester centerpiece of a putto riding a dolphin. The glaze isn't shiny let alone iridescent like antique majolica. For more information on Thomas Forester’s other work go here.

Thomas Forester & Sons majolica center

As I write after every post I do on reproductions, there is nothing wrong with buying a reproduction as long as you know what you’re getting. The problem is pieces that are meant to deceive like the toby jug with the fake mark. These pieces sell wholesale for $10-$35 from dealers who specialize in importing these kinds of reproductions from Asia and who only sell to certified retailers. They are then resold for hundreds of dollars by these dishonest, or ignorant, retailers to naïve buyers.  

Always buy from a reputable dealer who will accept a return if the piece is misrepresented. For more on detecting reproduction majolica go here. For information on the most common majolica reproductions go here. For information on identifying true Etruscan Majolica go here. For assistance in identifying unmarked majolica go here.

The Ceramics of Georges Dreyfus

Moret-sur-Loing c.1890

Some may recognize the name Moret-sur-Loing as the place where British impressionist Albert Sisley painted and where he spent the last twenty years of his life, but this small town in Ile-de-France was the home of another artist as well, a ceramicist and designer by the name of Georges Dreyfus.

Albert Sisley painting of Moret-sur-Loing c.1888

From 1884 to 1936 Dreyfus had retail shops in Paris that specialized in tableware and decorative items for the home many of which were made in his own pottery in Moret-sur-Loing. Although he made and sold a large variety of ceramics, majolica is probably the thing he is best known for.

History

In 1884 trained artist Georges Dreyfus opened a small retail shop in Paris at 32 Rue de Paradis selling gifts, novelties and ceramics. Six years later he opened Faïencerie Georges Dreyfus, a small pottery with three kilns on Rue de Fontainebleau in Moret-sur-Loing with 10-12 workers. The area was already known for its earthenware, having been the home to Faïencerie Eugène Schopin as well as other small earthenware potteries in nearby Montigny-sur-Loing. 

He produced ceramics there that he sold through his retail location in Paris. He also commissioned pieces from other potteries that he placed his stamp on. We don’t know exactly what he made and what he bought from others because he used the same stamp on both but it is believed that the majolica was made in his pottery as well as other items, like his faience fairy tale plates, which have his personal signature. He became known for his clever animal majolica and collaborations with Art Nouveau artist Alfonse Mucha.

Moret-sur-Loing 1898

Moret-sur-Loing 1898

His largest market was the growing middle class. As a result his fortunes grew and waned on the back of commerce, particularly the export market. When WW1 interrupted his export sales he had to change his output to less decorative and more practical items for sale to local markets. He made a great number of advertising pieces.

Dreyfus majolica Mucha designed advertising plate for the export market

His fortunes grew after the conclusion of WW1. Possibly encouraged by the anticipated tourism surrounding the Paris Olympics of 1924 he opened up a new retail gift shop that year, a public company called Société des Anciens Éts Georges Dreyfus at 80 Rue de Saint-Lazare, a fashionable shopping district in Paris. There, as before, he sold wares from the pottery in Moret-sur-Loing, ceramics made by other potteries on which he placed his mark and various gift items.

Stock share in Dreyfus’ Paris company. The company 

had a value of 2,000,000 francs which is equivalent to 

over $2,000,000 today

Five years later, his businesses were hit hard by the Depression of 1929. Declining sales over several years forced Faïencerie Georges Dreyfus to close provisionally in 1933 though he retained ownership in the hope of opening it again. The Société des Anciens Éts Georges Dreyfus in Paris was dissolved three years later.

The Majolica

The majolica made by Dreyfus is beautifully designed and modeled with generally excellent craftsmanship. He used the best talent available as well as doing much of the work himself.

Dreyfus majolica Pichet Coq

Dreyfus majolica Pichet Perroquet

Dreyfus majolica Pichet Canard

Dreyfus majolica dog pitcher

Dreyfuss majolica Pichet Bouledogue

Dreyfus majolica Pichet Chat

Dreyfus majolica Nobleman pitcher

Dreyfus majolica duck

Dreyfus majolica Coq salt dip

Dreyfus majolica figural chickens

Dreyfus figural majolica chicken with chicks

Dreyfus. majolica peacock desk stand

Dreyfus majolica bird and egg desk stand

Dreyfus majolica chicken egg server

Dreyfus majolica swan egg server

Dreyfus majolica egg server

Dreyfus majolica egg server

Dreyfus majolica egg server

Dreyfus majolica hen platter

Dreyfus majolica dachshund with puppies. 

Signed by sculptor Clovis-Edmond Masson

Dreyfus majolica game wall decor

Dreyfus majolica cat wall decor

Dreyfus majolica hanging match holder

Dreyfus majolica sparagus box

Dreyfus majolica and brass. cook

Dreyfus majolica advertising clock case with movement

 by the New Haven Clock Co.

Dreyfus majolica bear candlesticks. Copy of a larger Wardle design

Dreyfus majolica moon plate

Dreyfus majolica sun plate

Dreyfus majolica Marie Antionette dresser box

Dreyfus aahtray with a woman in traditional French costume

Dreyfus majolica jam advertisement dish

Dreyfus majolica French farming scene plate

Dreyfus majolica advertising ash tray

Dresser majolica bird's nest vase

Dreyfus majolica fish vase

Dreyfus majolica chestnut lid on ceramic transferware 

box with Mozart score

Dreyfus majolica chicken jardiniere

Other Ceramics

The best known of Dreyfus’ other work are his collaborations with Czech Art Nouveau artist Alfonse Mucha.

Alfonse Mucha

Dreyfus ceramic Alphonse Mucha cabinet plate

Dreyfus polychrome terracotta Mucha wall plaque

Dreyfus polychrome terracotta Mucha wall plaque

Dreyfus majolica Mucha advertising ashtray

Dreyfus majolica Mucha advertising bowl

Dreyfus majolica Mucha. advertising bowl

Dreyfus majolica Mucha advertising piece

Dreyfus majolica Mucha. advertising bowl

He also made and sold decorative plates, useful ceramics like inkwells and advertising pieces, and many others in the trompe-l’oeil style.

Dreyfus majolica and brass cat inkwell

Dreyfus faience rabbit in a pot

Dreyfus faience rabbit lidded pot

Dreyfus porcelain duck terrine

Mark on the base of the duck terrine 

Dreyfus terracotta watch holder advertising piece

Dreyfus terracotta crying baby pin cushion

Dreyfus transferware sardine box

Dreyfus trompe l'oeil egg ash tray

Dreyfus trompe l'oeil egg ash tray

Dreyfus majolica Pantheon souvenier ashtray

Dreyfus majolica Montebello Champagne advertising ash tray

Dreyfus ceramic transferware syrup

Dreyfus ceramic advertising creamer

Dreyfus Tamborine transferware box

Dreyfus ceramic lion bookends

Ceramic transferware souvenir plate from the 

Paris 1889 Exposition Universelle

Dreyfus ceramic souvenir plate for 1900 International

 Exhibition signed Gédé

Dreyfus ceramic White House paperweight

Dreyfus transferware trompe l'oeil desk stand

Dreyfus ceramic fan desk stand

Dreyfus ceramic advertising pin tray

Dreyfus majolica and transferware advertising plate featuring 

sardines, commissioned by the Amieux brothers, two

 canners from Nantes

Dreyfus faience rooster pitcher

Dreyfus faience Pichet au Canard

Dreyfus ceramic candle holder

Dreyfus ceramic oil lamp base

Dreyfus floral ceramic wall pocket

Dreyfus floral ceramic wall pocket

Dreyfus ceramic advertising plate

Dreyfus transfer plate

Dreyfus ceramic fairy tale plates

Fable of the fox and the sour grapes

The fable of the rooster and the fox

Dreyfus transferware plates, part of a series based on the 

fairy tales of Jean de La Fontaine. 

Illustrations signed by Georges Dreyfus

Dreyfus ceramic musical plate. Part of a series.

Dreyfus transferware Joan of Arc plate

Dreyfus rooster ceramic plate signed Gédé. 

Part of a larger series on poultry

Dreyfus hen ceramic plate signed Gédé.

Part of a larger series on poultry

Dreyfus decorated faience plate. Part of a series of 

similar designs. Signed Gédé,.

Dreyfus faience farming plate. Signed Gédé

Dreyfus faience shepherd umbrella stand. Signed Gédé

Dreyfus 1886 advertising calendar plate

The factory in Moret-sur-Loing that was closed provisionally in 1933 never reopened. The Nazi occupation of France in 1940 changed everything for Dreyfus. In 1941 he was forced by the Germans to sell his pottery. He then suffered the same fate as millions of other European Jews during WW2. He was arrested for his faith and deported to an extermination camp. It was a sad end for a talented man and entrepreneur who contributed so much to France’s ceramic heritage. He would have been in his 70s at the time of his death.

Marks

Today Dreyfus majolica is admired for its craftsmanship and design. It is easily identifiable as well. He was consistent in marking wares he made and sold, even those he commissioned from others. He generally used an ink mark but occasionally used an impressed one. It reads G.D. Paris within a cartouche of a notecard with a folded corner with the word FRANCE on the fold. Below it reads DÉPOSÉ, which was his copyright notice, and sometimes MADE IN FRANCE or other identification information. 

The use of the folded calling card has a meaning in French culture. Leaving a calling card with a folded top right corner for someone who is not at home is a French tradition meaning that the call was made in person. His use of it as a logo with his initials is a genteel way of saying that the item was made just for you.

The mark Gédé is also believed to be one of his markings.

Gédé was one of the brand names he used