You know how you go for years without really noticing something, and yet once you do, you can't stop noticing it, until your "noticing" begins to resemble "obsessing"? Well, that is how I feel about pâte sur pâte.
Pâte sur pâte might sound like a particularly indulgent appetizer, but that would be pâté sur pâté (sur is French for "on"). This pâte, without the accent aigu, is pronounced pät, long a (just pretend the e isn't there and lengthen the a a teeny bit and you're good to go). The direct translation is "paste on paste," which refers to the technique of making this style of porcelain.
In a word, this technique is hard. I mean mad skills were required. And yet pâte sur pâte began as a happy accident. The French, you see, were desperate to copy Chinese porcelain techniques--which had been all the rage for decades--so they sat around in their factories, experimenting. In the 1850s, in the Sèvres factory, they started applying white clay to an unglazed vessel, delicately building up the layers with a tiny paintbrush. They did not end up with what they meant to, but if Christopher Columbus taught us anything, it's that mistakes sometimes turn out okay. Here as well, because, voila, a new style of porcelain was born.
Pâte sur pâte might seem to resemble jasper ware (like this Wedgwood piece, above). But it is much more difficult to master. Whereas the bas relief figures in jasper ware are made with a mold, pâte sur pâte is done entirely by hand and is prized for the delicate translucency that ensues, which the true masters show off by creating diaphanous gowns, sheer wings (such as the butterfly wings on the back of the moon flask, below) and so on.
Speaking of mastery, try, just try, to discuss pâte sur pâte with those in-the-know without the name Mark-Louis Solon coming up. It's impossible, I assure you. His name is nearly as synonymous with pâte sur pâte as Gustav Stickley's is with Mission furniture. One look at his pieces (below) and you can see why. None of his pieces are up for auction right now, but when they are, the estimates run in the tens of thousands.
A vase by pâte sur pâte master Mark-Louis Solon
Solon worked at Sèvres and Mintons, two of the more celebrated producers of this style of porcelain. Today, antique pâte sur pâte is scarce and there are practically no newly produced pieces. (In fact, Dale Marc Bowen claims to be the last living artist proficient in pâte sur pâte, and I have no reason to dispute him; fortunately for us, he's quite talented). Luckily for you, however, several fine pieces are up for bidding in the next few weeks. I hope you help keep this art form alive and appreciated. See a clip from Antiques Roadshow, below, more information....and happy bidding, everyone!
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