Marc-Louis Solon

Marc-Louis E. Solon
Born 1835
Montauban
Died 23 June 1913
Nationality French
Occupation porcelain artist
Known for pâte-sur-pâte

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 186270 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

Mintons vases designed by Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon in the pâte-sur-pâte style, 1880

Solon married Laure, the daughter of Minton's art director, Léon 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:

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

  1. SOLON, Louis Marc Emmanuel
  2. The Villas
  3. Muter, Grant (1985). "Leon Solon and John Wadsworth". Journal of the Decorative Arts Society. Retrieved 2 December 2013. (accessed via JSTOR, subscription required)

External links

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