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.
The re-opening of Japanese ports to foreign trade in 1854, after nearly 250 years of embargo, ushered in an era of utter fascination with, and inspiration from, every aspect of the visual culture from that distant, unfamiliar island country. Japanese woodblock prints, ceramics, textiles, screens, and other objets d’art began appearing in European markets in the 1860s, soon drawing much attention in major exhibitions, markets, fairs, and salons. Japanese prints and objects increasingly provided Western artists images of a foreign, exotic land, as well as a new formal vocabulary, sense of spatial relationships, color palette, and appreciation for nature. French art critic Philippe Burty coined a new term for this Japanese-inspired aesthetic: Japonisme.
The earliest efforts in Japonisme consisted of copied motifs from Japanese prints, as can be seen in Félix Bracquemond’s (1833-1914) Service Rousseau tableware. Exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle to critical acclaim, this work is credited with the earliest use of Japanese print images in French decorative arts. His asymmetrical placement of the appropriated images on the plates also exhibits an understanding of the Japanese spatial concepts, and a shift away from practiced French symmetrical arrangements.
Other French decorative artists soon followed in adopting Japanese designs and formal principles, and what began as a superficial borrowing of motifs evolved into a true assimilation and adaptation of Japanese aesthetic concepts. Besides the work of Bracquemond, Japonisme in ceramics was skillfully embraced by Albert Dammouse (1848-1926), Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909), Théodore Deck (1823-1891), Edmond Lachenal (1855-1948), and Émile Decoeur (1876-1953), among many others in the Paris circle and beyond. Each of these ceramicists developed independent, interpretive, japoniste styles, emulating the spirit of their models and in the process, achieving a new, freer conception of painted decoration, vase shapes, stoneware glazes, and other ceramic techniques.
Japonisme’s popularity began to fade at the dawning of the 20th century as it was supplanted by the sinuous lines and whiplash tendrils of Art Nouveau. However, decorative and fine arts are nothing if not a continuum, and Japonisme’s lasting influence was felt in the genesis of concurrent and following art movements including Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and beyond.
Auction Results Jean Joseph Marie Carriès
