Basket vase 1895 - 1905

This intriguing basket vase was created by Georges Hoentschel, a French artist working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The vase’s design seems to straddle the line between functional object and pure sculpture. Made from glazed stoneware, it has the look of something ancient and weathered, yet its unusual structure suggests the influence of the burgeoning Art Nouveau movement. At the time Hoentschel was working, France was undergoing rapid industrialization, but also experiencing a nostalgic turn towards the handmade. Artists and designers looked to the past for inspiration, but they also sought to create new forms that reflected the modern age. Hoentschel seems to be part of a community of artists self-consciously attempting to raise the status of decorative arts, which had often been seen as lesser than painting or sculpture. To fully understand a work like this, we need to know about the institutional and economic forces at play in the art world. Examining exhibition catalogues, design journals, and collectors’ records, helps us understand what was at stake for artists in this period.