Mid-Century French Ceramic Pitcher / Vase by Jacques Blin and Jean Rustin (circa 1960s)

Mid-Century French ceramic pitcher / vase by Jacques Blin and Jean Rustin (circa 1960s). This elegant piece has Blin's trademark cloudy glaze but with decoration by French artist, Jean Rustin (1928-2013). It takes the form of several suns and circles on the lower frieze encircling the piece. The ceramic is particularly rare because of this collaboration which has been documented in Vianney Frain's 'History of the Jacques Blin Workshop' (Edition du Quai des Marais, Amboise, 2016). On the underside it is signed 'J. Blin'. This is a rare piece, elegant, charming and highly collectible all at once. The vase is in good overall condition. Upon request a video may be provided. 

About the Artist: Jacques Blin (1920-1995), an engineer by trade but with a love for the visual arts. Blin has an immediately recognisable style characterised by a more or less misty appearance of the glaze and by decoration deeply marked in the raw clay, a method he used throughout his career. He frequently depicted fanciful birds, primitive animals, stylised figures and whimsical abstract motifs in his works which are always signed "J. Blin".

About Jean Rustin (1928-2013): During the 1950s he was mainly preoccupied with abstract painting but from the 1970s he embarked on figurative work. He created a bizarre world of human figures, where an existential dead-end is transformed into fright, abhorrence, pity but also relief. The artist stated..."I realise that behind my artistic creation, behind the fascination for the naked body, there are twenty centuries of painting, primarily religious, twenty centuries of dead Christs, tortured martyrs, gory revolutions, massacres and shattered dreams; I realise that history and maybe art history are engraved on the body and flesh of men..." Until the late 1960s, his abstract painting had a large following in France. However, while most European and American artists were widening the gap between themselves and the figurative traditions that preceded Modernism, Rustin started to swim against the current, a decision which cost him dearly in the short term (Ref. Prabook.com)

Dimensions:

H 32.5 cm / 12.8"

W 19 cm / 7.5"

D 12.5 cm / 4.9"