Ref. : 3720-10-en

Emile Diffloth (1856-1933)

Vase "Iris"

Origine

France, Créteil, ca 1915

H : 32,5 cm / 12.8 in.
Ø max : 27 cm / 10.6 in.

Description

Bulbous shape with a narrow flared neck vase in stoneware porcelain. Decor of stylized iris flowers and foliages, glazed with a crystalline iridescent "de Grand Feu" enamels.
Unique piece of Art.

Signature

Stamp signature of the artist under the vase in a circular cartouche: "DIFFLOTH / 31. D "(in black).

Notes

Unique piece of Art.

Stylistically, works of Diffloth are characterized by bulbous shapes, with slender necks and rather narrow openings (see Conney Frelinghuysen).
Great technician and chemist, he focused his works on ceramic's glazes and invented "crystalline iridescent glazes" like the ones of ancient glasses and potteries discovered in excavations (see De Nereys, see Catalogues...).

Works of Emile Diffloth are present in in various museums and institutions such as the MET of New York, USA, 1 vase; Inv. 2018.294.253), the SLAM (Saint Louis Museum of Art), Saint Louis, USA (2 vases, Inv 216: 1980 and Inv 7: 2006), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), USA (1 vase, Inv. 87.222), the MAD de Paris - Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris -, France, (1 vase ; Inv. 5723), the Petit Palais Museum, Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, France (1 bowl, Inv OGAL417) ...

His pure shapes vases, very inspired by the Far East, the Art and Craft Movement and the Wiener Secession reflect the new and unique role that the potters and the independent artists took in ceramic's creations in the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century.

Short Biography

Emile-Auguste Diffloth (1856-1933), French chemist and ceramist.

After working in the 1880s in the ceramic family business where he learned the technique of "pâte-sur-pâte" (see De Liesville), Diffloth worked for Felix-Optat Millet at Sevres as a painter on ceramics. It is most likely during this period that he met Taxile Doat (see Paul Arthur).
After 1889, he worked briefly for Edmond Lachenal before joining in 1892 the brand Kéramis, a subsidiary of Boch Frères in Belgium. In 1899, he became its artistic director.

In December 1909, he joined the teaching team of ceramist Taxile Doat who leaved France to teach in the USA, at the University City Pottery of St. Louis, Missouri ( see Conradsen, Denker).

In October 1910, after a disagreement with Doat, he returned to France where he opened his own studio at 20 rue des Mèches in Créteil (see Catalogues).
In 1928, he was given the title of "Meilleur ouvrier de France" (the title "Meilleur ouvrier de France" is awarded every three years to craftsmen) and in 1932 he became a member of the jury of the "Societé des Artistes Décorateurs" (SAD).

Selective Bibliography

Catalogues of the Salon :
Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins, sculpture, architecture et gravure, des artistes vivants, exposées au Palais des Champs-Elysées le 30 avril 1913, , Paris, 1913, p. 502, notice 5271.
Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins, sculpture, architecture et gravure, des artistes vivants, exposées au Palais des Champs-Elysées le 30 avril 1914, Paris, 1914, p. 539, notice 5547.
Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins, sculpture, architecture et gravure, des artistes vivants, exposées au Palais des Champs-Elysées le 30 avril 1920, , Paris, 1920, p. 240, notice 4197.
Catalogue du 21e salon des artistes décorateurs, du 12 mai au 11 juillet 1931, Paris, 1931, p. 27.

Revues :

De Liesville, (A.-R.), « Les Industries d'Art au Champ de Mars, IV-1 La céramique moderne », dans L'Art Moderne à l'Exposition de 1878, Publication de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1879, p. 412.
De Nereys, (R.), « Les Arts, Promenade au Salon », dans L'Homme libre, quotidien du matin, Paris, édition du 25 octobre 1920, p. 2.
M.B., « Les céramiques modernernes à la Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres », dans L'Art et les artistes : revue mensuelle d'art ancien et moderne.., t. XII, N° 115 à 119, mars à juillet 1931, p. 354.

Books :
Arthur, (P.), French Art Nouveau Ceramics : An Illustrated Dictionary, Ed. Norma, 2015, p. 144 et 145.
Conney Frelinghuysen, (A.), American Porcelain, 1770-1920, The MET, New York, 1989, p. 282-283, Notice n° 112.
Cooney Frelinghuysen, (A.), Eidelberg, (M.), Spinozzi, (A), American Art Pottery: The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection, The MET, New York, 2018, p. 234-236, fig. 266.
Conradsen, (D.), Denker, (E.-P.), University City Ceramics, Art Pottery of the American Woman's League, Saint Louis Art Museum, 2004, p. 22-24, p. 52-57, p. 108, 111, fig. 2, cat. 14-19 and back cover.
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