Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

This work will be included in the forthcoming Paul Gauguin Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.
Gauguin began to produce ceramics in 1886, shortly before he left Paris for his first seminal trip to Brittany. He had been introduced by his friend, the painter and engraver Félix Bracquemond to Ernest Chaplet, one of the leading ceramicists of his day and, seeking to supplement his meagre income, Gauguin arranged to make pottery in Chaplet's studio on the rue Blomet and to split the proceeds between them. At the outset, the agreement was that Chaplet would make the ceramics, and Gauguin would decorate them, as seen in the present work.