A PAIR OF FRENCH STONEWARE FAUX AGATE VASES

The attribution of the present pair of faux-marble stoneware vases to M. Fabry & Paul Utzscheider is based ona comparison with the pair of faux-porphyry vases sold Christie's, New York, 2 June 2015, lot 403. The manufacture formed by the partnership between Joseph Fabri and François-Paul Urtzschneider started producing ceramics in 1792 at Sarreguemines, a mills town in the Moselle. In the early 19th Century they invented a specific composition with which, once it was polished, they were able to simulate porphyry, jasper and other precious stones. In the 1809 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie, they were awarded a gold medal for their vases in imitation of these stones, and attracted the attention of Baron Vivant-Denon, Napoleon's foremost art advisor.