Shell Table Centerpiece, Choisy-le-Roi, circa 1890 

This shell  table centrepiece in two parts is the work of Choisy-le-Roi, the French faience Manufactory. The base represents the interior of a shell with brown gradations and green leaf decoration. It is articulated inside in a circular reinforcement and forming a shell-shaped ewer. Its foot seems to be a rock where shell cling to it. Leaves similar to those of the base are visible on the panse of the ewer forming a visual reminder and creating a unit. The handles of the ewer are made of algae. The marine universe is excellently executed, illustrating all the technicality of the Choisy-le-Roi faience factory

The manufacture is rewarded at Wolrd’s Fait. At the 1878 exhibition in Paris, she received the gold medal. On this occasion, she executed the left portal of the Exhibition’s Palais des Beaux-Arts. The manufacture is member of the jury of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. The factory’s head office was located at 18 rue de Paradis in Paris where architectural ceramic panels can still be seen today.