Decoeur, one of the most talented, sophisticated, and well-known French ArtDeco studio potters, was thoroughly versed in the materials and techniquesof his medium. He was among the first to reject the perceived aestheticexcesses of the Art Nouveau style for the purity and challenge presented bythe simplicity of traditional Chinese-influenced shapes and glazes. The classicbaluster form of this vase shows off his rich, subtly complex glaze. Decoeur’semphasis on the materials themselves as the vehicle of artistry and meaningparallels the development of nonfigurative art in the early twentieth century.
