Platter

<p>This monumental ceramic platter illustrates the interconnectedness of the fine and applied arts in France during the era of radical artistic innovation around 1870. It was created by Félix Bracquemond, a printmaker and designer who was deeply embedded in the Parisian avant-garde. The thickly modeled stoneware form is enameled with an arrestingly bright landscape in yellow, orange, red and green. At the center of the composition a vibrant, craggy mountain rises above an ominously dark waterfall. The boldly delineated landscape elements recall Japanese woodblock prints, which Bracquemond admired.</p>