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 by the name of Georges Dreyfus.
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 ceramics. Six years later he opened the Faïencerie Georges Dreyfus, a small pottery with three kilns in Moret-sur-Loing on Rue de Fontainebleau of 10-12 workers. 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. It is believed that his majolica was made in his pottery. He became known for his clever animal majolica and collaborations with Art Nouveau artist Alfonse Mucha.
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 deal of advertising pieces.
In 1924 he opened up a new retail shop with a partner Pierre Forveille, Sociéré des Anciens Éts Georges Dreyfus at 80 Rue de Saint-Lazare in Paris, a fashionable shopping district. There, as before, he sold wares from the pottery in Moret-sur-Loing as well as ceramics made by other potteries on which he placed his mark. His fortunes grew again after the war only to be hit hard by the Depression of 1929. Declining sales over several years forced his pottery in Moret-sur-Loing to close provisionally in 1933 though he retained ownership in the hope of opening it again. The shop in Paris closed in 1936.
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.
Other Ceramics
The best known of Dreyfus’ other work are his collaborations with Czech Art Nouveau artist Alfonse Mucha.
He also made and sold decorative plates, useful ceramics like inkwells and advertising pieces, and many others in the trompe-l’oeil style.
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The pottery at Moret-sur-Loing that was closed provisionally in 1933 never reopened. The occupation of France in 1940 then changed everything for Dreyfus. In 1941 he was forced by the Germans to sell the 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. He would have been approximately 75 years old 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 personally. His use of it 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.
