Marc-Louis Solon
Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon (1835 – 23 June 1913), pseudonym Miles, was a French porcelain artist for Sèvres Pottery who moved to Stoke-on-Trent in 1870 to become a leading artist at Mintons Ltd. He remained resident in England until his death. His work commanded high prices in the late Victorian period as a leading exponent of the technique of ceramic decoration called pâte-sur-pâte. One of his vases, believed to be his largest, is on display at Osborne House.
Solon was born in Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne. Despite some family resistance to his becoming an artist, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and with Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran.[1] Some of Solon's work came to the attention of the art director of the Sèvres Pottery. Solon was employed there from 1862-1870 as a ceramic artist and designer, and he learnt and greatly improved the technique of pâte-sur-pâte. His subjects included portraits, female figures, putti, small animals, and birds, in styles derived from Classical Greece, the Renaissance, 17th- and 18th-century paintings, and Victorian postcards.
Solon moved to England in 1870 at the time of the Franco-Prussian War. He found employment at Mintons Ltd, and settled at Nº1, The Villas, Stoke-on-Trent.[2] Mintons experienced more demand for pâte-sur-pâte ceramics than Solon could meet working on his own, and from the 1870s he trained a number of English apprentices including Frederick Alfred Rhead.
Family
Solon married Laure, the daughter of Minton's art director, Leon Arnoux. Their eldest son, Léon-Victor Solon (1872–1957), joined Minton in the 1890s and became art director (1900–09). Leon made an important contribution to art nouveau ceramics at Minton before moving to the USA.[3]
Literary interests
During his early years in Staffordshire Solon collected local pottery. He used the collection as the basis of his 1883 publication, "The Art of the Old English Potter", a book about pottery produced before Josiah Wedgwood transformed the industry. Other publications include:
- A History and Description of Italian Maiolica (London, 1907)
- Ceramic Literature (London, 1910)
He also collected books about ceramics; after his death, his library was acquired by the local technical college with funds provided by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust.
References
- ↑ SOLON, Louis Marc Emmanuel
- ↑ The Villas
- ↑ Muter, Grant (1985). "Leon Solon and John Wadsworth". Journal of the Decorative Arts Society. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon. |
- Potteries Museum & Art Gallery Examples of pâte-sur-pâte are to be found in the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, Staffordshire, whose collection includes items from the former Minton museum. The website has a search facility which allows you to view images of pâte-sur-pâte (if you type in the keyword "Solon").
- Oxford Art Online entry
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