The quintessence of La Borne decorative ceramics

The quintessence of La Borne decorative ceramics

Auction on June 25, 2025

La Borne, located in the Berry region, is a historic center of pottery and ceramics in France. Thanks to a rich deposit of stoneware clay and high-temperature firing techniques, the village became a major hub for ceramic creation in the 20th century. Initially focused on utilitarian ware, production gradually shifted toward more decorative pieces, driven by growing demand for folkloric and visually striking objects. After World War II, while many traditional pottery villages were in decline, La Borne experienced a true revival with the arrival of artist-ceramists from various backgrounds. Several of them went on to leave a lasting mark on the history of modern ceramics:

Vassil Ivanoff (1897–1976), of Bulgarian origin, was one of the leading figures in the post–World War II revival of ceramics in La Borne. After arriving in France in 1922, he settled in La Borne in 1946. Working primarily with stoneware, he created his own glazes and fired his pieces in a wood-fired kiln. Ivanoff is considered the “first expressionist of ceramics”; his often monumental works blend traditional pottery with avant-garde sculpture. We will present a vase and a large decorative wall panel composed of 10 salt-glazed stoneware tiles forming a central brutalist high-relief design. Only one other known example of this work exists, held in the Ivanoff Museum in La Borne.

Élisabeth Joulia (1925–2003) is another prominent ceramist closely associated with La Borne. She settled there in 1949 and developed a unique body of work. From the 1950s onward, she turned to stoneware sculpture, creating powerful and abstract forms inspired by nature and ancient civilizations. Living a deliberately austere life close to nature, Joulia sought to express the essence of the living world through the shapes she reproduced and the engobes she used. We will present three of her creations, including a rare modular stoneware lamp decorated with a geometric pattern of adjoining rings. This design was inspired by “witches’ circles,” natural mushroom formations where the sporophores (visible parts) often appear in concentric or adjoining circles, creating a regular motif of juxtaposed rings.

Pierre Digan (1941–2016) began his training in the mid-1950s at the École des Arts Appliqués in Beaune, under the direction of ceramist Michel Lucotte. In 1960, he settled in La Borne, where he collaborated with Barbara Delfosse to create large sculptures and a line of utilitarian stoneware with a pyrite finish. In the 1970s, Digan gained recognition for his creation of modular decorative wall elements in glazed stoneware, which enjoyed international success and contributed to the revival of decorative wall art. We will present two sets of glazed stoneware tiles designed to form geometric decorative panels: original relief works that showcase Digan’s inventiveness in architectural ceramics.

“20TH CENTURY DECORATIVE ARTS & DESIGN” AUCTION

Wednesday, June 25, 2pm
Tajan, 37 rue des Mathurins, 75008 Paris

CONTACTS
Marie-Cécile Michel – Director of 20th Century Decorative Arts & Design
+33 1 53 30 30 58 – [email protected]

Ariane de Miramon – Director of Press & Communication
+33 1 53 30 30 68 – [email protected]