Jean Joseph Marie Carriès trained as a sculptor in Lyon prior to moving to Paris in 1874. Like so many artists of his era, he was inspired to experiment with clay after seeing Seto, Bizen, and other Japanese pottery at the 1878 Exposition Universelle. The explosion of interest in Japanese decorative arts had begun in 1854 after Japan reopened its ports to trade with the West and shiploads of works began arriving on France’s shores. A little over two decades later in 1876, French journalist and art critic Philippe Burty coined the term Japonisme to describe the fervor for all things Japanese. Carriès and other ceramists, in particular, were drawn to the imperfect nature of Japanese ceramics that stood in such stark contrast to the machine-like perfection of pottery being produced in their home country.
Carriès spent over a decade working mostly in portraiture, exhibiting to some success at the Salons of 1881 and 1883, until finally in 1888—after encouragement from Paul Gauguin, who he met at Ernest Chaplet’s studio—he gained enough financial independence and moved to Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye to devote himself to pottery. A small Burgundian town nestled in the hilly countryside, Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye was famous for its clays and had a pottery tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. Carriès established his own atelier a few miles west of town, garnering assistance from local potters and noted French ceramist Alexandre Bigot.
Carriès worked in a variety of styles, from grotesque masks to animal forms, but is perhaps best known for his exquisite, naturalistic japoniste vessels. He became a master of the drip-glaze, often accompanied by gilt accents, as well as rouletting (a lightly textured surface) and the snakeskin technique (peau de serpent in French, dakatsude in Japanese). A circle of artists in Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye adopted his style, leading to the informal creation of the School of Carriès of which several students would become famous in their own right, including Paul Jeanneney, Eugene Lion, and Théo Perrot. Tragically, Carriès died of pleurisy at the young age of 39 in 1894, the same year he was awarded the title of Knight of the Legion of Honor.
Auction Results Jean Joseph Marie Carriès
