Our Prints & Multiples auction taking place on 28 March in Los Angeles features a covetable trove of Picasso ceramics. Here, Victoria Zaks, Cataloguer in the Prints & Multiples department in Los Angeles, highlights the masterful variety of Picasso ceramics coming under the hammer.

Lot 89
Pablo Picasso, Face

Picasso met the owners of the famed Madoura Pottery workshop, Suzanne and Georges Ramié, in 1946 at the annual pottery exhibition in Vallauris, France. The Spanish artist became obsessed with the medium and moved to Vallauris in 1948. Over the course of the next 20 years, Picasso designed 633 different ceramic editions. He started with simpler, more utilitarian plates and bowls, then later experimented with new methods of production and techniques to create complex pitchers, anthropomorphic sculptural forms, and vases, such as Face.

Lot 94
Pablo Picasso, Face

In collaboration with the skilled ceramicists at the Madoura studio, Picasso explored paint, glazes, and engraving the clay’s surface. In order to reproduce his works into editions, Picasso adopted two main methods: the first through replicating the original by hand, the second by transferring the artist’s design from an original dry clay mold onto fresh clay.

The works made through this second process were officially stamped ‘Empreinte Originale de Picasso’ on the underside or reverse of the piece. Every ceramic produced by Picasso bears a stamp or marking which evolved over time, however the most prevalent include ‘Madoura Plein Feu’, ‘Empreinte Originale de Picasso’ and ‘Edition Picasso’, as seen in this Face bowl.

Lots 85 & 86
Pablo Picasso, Vase with Two High Handles

Picasso's famous ceramic renderings included animals, whimsical faces, bull fights and the human figure, most notably women. The artist mirrors the curves of the female form in these two different vases, both titled Vase with Two High Handles. Picasso stated “people have said for ages that a woman’s hips are shaped like a vase. It’s no longer poetic; it becomes a cliché. I take a vase and with it I make a woman… I move from metaphor back to reality.”

Lot 84
Pablo Picasso, Woman-faced Wood-Owl

Picasso’s affinity for incorporating owls into his work could come from several sources. The Spanish artist formed a personal connection to the nocturnal bird when he rescued and cared for an injured owl at the Musée d’Antibes. In classical mythology, the owl was a symbol for Athena, the goddess of wisdom and strength. Furthermore, the owl was the ancient symbol of Antibes, Vallauris’ neighboring region. In this vase, Picasso cleverly morphs a female face and an owl’s body to create an alluring new form.

Register to bid in Prints & Multiples before 28 March. Please reach out to Victoria.Zaks@bonhams.com for inquiries.