Flamingo Column, Delphin Massier, Vallauris, circa 1890/1900

This flamingo column surmounted by vase decorated with flowers is reminiscent of the Mediterranean majolica tradition. Work by Delphin Massier (1836-1907), fixed in Vallauris for several generations, our piece expresses with exuberance the taste for a local flora and fauna. The column is surrounded by aquatic rushes flanked by a pink flamingo, an emblematic bird of the ponds of Camargue. The vases are circular in shape with painted and sculpted decorations of shimmering stems and flowers.
The success of this model is such, that it appears under several sizes with variants in the sales catalogue of the collections of Delphin Massier published in 1908, one year after the artist’s death.

Many Massier’s works of art were inspired by the nature and especially by the fauna. By this inspiration, Massier’s factory played an important role in the Art Nouveau movement. This artistic vocabulary based on animals and insects contributed to give a new impulsion to decorative arts of the end of the century. Extracted from artistic Japan patterns, grasshopper, fishes and birds were produced in different sizes.