Making Pottery Art: The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection of French Ceramics (ca. 1880–1910)

Exhibition Objects

Square vase
Ernest Chaplet (French, Sèvres 1835–1909 Choisy-le-Roi)
Date: ca. 1889
Accession Number: 2013.477
Vessel with Women and Goats
Paul Gauguin (French, Paris 1848–1903 Atuona, Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands )
Date: ca. 1887–89
Accession Number: 2013.471
Gourd vase
Jean-Joseph Carriès (French, 1855–1894)
Date: ca. 1890
Accession Number: 2013.488
Flask with face
Jean-Joseph Carriès (French, 1855–1894)
Date: ca. 1890
Accession Number: 2013.489
Tall vase with four handles
Auguste Delaherche (French, Beauvais 1857–1940 Paris)
Date: ca. 1893–94
Accession Number: 2013.485
Basket vase
Georges Hoentschel (French, Paris 1855–1915 Paris)
Date: ca. 1900
Accession Number: 2013.491

View All Objects

Featured Media

MetCollects—Episode 6: Robert A. Ellison Jr. on His Collection of European Art Pottery

"When does a pot become art?" Robert A. Ellison, Jr. on His Collection of European Art Pottery

The Robert A. Ellison Collection of European Art Pottery
Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection, Gift of Robert A. Ellison Jr., 2013; and Purchase, Acquisitions Fund, Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; 2011 Benefit Fund; and The Isaacson-Draper Foundation Gift, 2013

MetCollects introduces highlights of works of art recently acquired by the Met through gifts and purchases. Discover a new work each month.

Friday Focus—An Artist's Perspective: The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection of French Ceramics
(01:15:16) 539 views

Making Pottery Art

The Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection of French Ceramics (ca. 1880–1910)

February 4, 2014–March 15, 2015

Gallery 521

Technically experimental and aesthetically ambitious, the vases made by French potters in the years around 1900 pushed the boundaries of the ceramic medium. The recently acquired Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection of European Art Pottery includes pieces by the master ceramists Ernest Chaplet, Auguste Delaherche, and Jean Carriès, works of imposing size, beautiful in shape, and dazzling in their glazes. These works are shown with others that inspired them, ranging from Asian ceramics to German stoneware.