Victor or Achille Barbizet, Peul Women’s Cup, Circa 1870, polychrome glazed earthenware, Paris, France

The garments of these three Peuhl wearers, elevated by a cup, reveal great attention to detail and ornament, as well as to the treatment of the fabrics, which contrasts with the depth of the enamel used for the skin. The poise of their head carriage, with its three-quarter face and distant gaze, demonstrates a concern for an ethnographic vision combined with a great admiration for late 19th-century Orientalist subjects. The piece is unsigned, as are most of Victor Barbizet’s pieces, but the treatment of the enamel and the sculpture make it undoubtedly the work of the illustrious Ecole de Paris artist, Victor, or his son Achille, faienciers d’art from 1851 to the 1880s.