Vase

Pablo Picasso began producing ceramics in 1947 at the Madoura pottery near Nice. There, he discovered a way to create original ceramics in limited editions. Using Picasso's prototypes, Madoura potters would make plaster models. Into these molds, they would press sheets of clay, carefully pull them out, and then form them into vessels of various kinds. The potters would then use glazes to decorate the forms to duplicate Picasso's originals. This vase is stamped inside to indicate it is part of an edition, with the words Originale de Picasso 15 (encircled) and Madoura Plein Feu. This vase, with its exuberant inscribed nudes, shows how well this method worked. The red clay of the pot itself was used for the figures, whereas the background was painted with a white liquid clay, or slip, to accentuate the human shapes. The pot's swelling contours also enhance the voluptuousness of the female bodies and show Picasso's delight in merging human anatomy with a functional form.