Ouest enchères publiques Nantes & Rennes, Quintessence IV - part 3: tableware and Asian arts, lot 842, in Vezin-le-Coquet, on Monday, October 19, 2026.
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Pair of glazed earthenware oil lamps, covered in celadon glaze and decorated with a polychrome design of Far Eastern inspiration. Lush vegetation of banana trees, bamboo, palm trees and grasses unfolds across the whole, in a subtle harmony of blues and greens. A very beautiful gilt bronze mount, whose four-legged base evokes bamboo, completes this set.
This pair of lamps bears witness to Auguste Jean's interest in the arts of the Far East, of which he offers a free and personal interpretation. The enveloping plant decoration, the palette of blues and greens and the pictorial treatment of the motifs fit into the Orientalist taste that was then contributing to the renewal of French decorative arts. Like Théodore Deck and Eugène Collinot, Auguste Jean thus participates in the eclecticism that characterizes French ceramics under the Second Empire.
Several other earthenware pieces by Auguste Jean, notably vases, pots and plates, feature similar painted decorations. This pair nevertheless remains particularly rare, as Auguste Jean's earthenware or glass lamps are very few among the works that have come down to us.
Condition: Good condition, a few chips. Globes missing.
Signature: Signatures not visible, but likely present beneath the mounts.
