Vase with seaweed

François-Emile Décorchemont

ca. 1901 · Glazed stoneware · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Art Nouveau’s fascination for nature was never limited to land. Deriving from botanical studies of marine organisms in the 19th century, and perhaps also the mystery of the ocean depicted in Jules Verne’s famous 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, marine fauna and flora were recurring motifs in works of this era. However, rather than turning to exotic inspirations, Décorchemont here used the common spiral wrack as decoration. The simple yet organic lines of the patterned seaweed, combined with a rustic blue glaze, show an example of how Art Nouveau merged the sinuous curves of nature with the Japan-inspired aesthetic of presenting everyday subjects in a decorative manner.

Artist

François-Emile Décorchemont

Date

ca. 1901

Medium

Glazed stoneware

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts