Amalric Walter (French, 1870 ~ 1959) was born in Sevres and from the age of 15 followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by becoming apprenticed to the Sevres Porcelain Factory as a ceramic painter.

By the time he was 30, Walter had become proficient in the sculptural glass technique of pate de verre, and came to the attention of the Daum brothers in Nancy, famed for their Art Nouveau glass. In 1903 Walter joined the Daum factory where he was given his own workshop and a substantial fee in return for the secrets of his technique.

Throughout the period of 1904 until the outbreak of the First World War, Walter tested and refined his technique, creating tiles, dishes, busts and a bestiary that he is most loved for, and which is the focus of this collection.

After the end of the War, and having received the Legion d’Honeur for gallantry, Walter returned to Nancy. He separated amicably from Daum and set up his own workshop in Nancy, which he ran until the start of the Second World War. By the late 1930s the fashion for pate de verre had waned and by the late 1930s Walter stopped producing. On his death in 1959, Walter’s studio and workshop were dispersed and very little has come to light since.