An art deco Limoges enamel brooch by Louis Valade (Camille Faure)

For sale is this fantastic large Limoges enamel brooch (could be worn as a pendant) by Louis Valade, the enameller who made some of Camille Faure’s most exceptional enamel vases in the 1920’s – see images for an example.  The brooch is designed as a stylised flower in varying blue and white enamels with a yellow centre.  The enamel is in thick layers, a very unusual and difficult technique specific to Faure’s / Valade’s work at this time.  The enamel is perfect. The enamel plaque is simply set in a silver wire work surround.  The brooch has a safety catch which could be used to thread a chain for use as a pendant. The image shown has not been photo-shopped and is a good representation of the actual brooch’s colour and vibrancy.

Camille Faure (1874-1956) is credited as a brilliant entrepreneur, who helped revive the fortunes of both his father’s business and Limoges enamels more generally.  His firm’s style changed over the years but is most famed for the period c 1925-30 when it made fantastic art deco style enamel vases.

This new deco style was directly inspired by Faure hiring several new talented enamellers, most notably Louis Valade, Lucie Dadat and Pierre Bardy.  Valade was born in 1892  in Limoges and was one of the most talented local porcelain painters.  He is described by Michel C. Kierner as “the best hand of Faure’s workshop of the art deco period” (See this link for academic French article on the subject by Kierner).

By 1930, with the economic depression, Faure changed the firm’s style again and Louis Valade started to work on his own, producing relatively few pieces. Signed pieces by him, like this brooch, are rare.

Dimensions

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

Condition report

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