This is a wonderful, vintage Pablo Picasso, Madoura Plate. It is made from ceramic, decorated with colored engobes and glazes. The subject is a still life with a bouquet and an apple. Only 400 of these were made, in 1956. They are each a little different. This one has very beautiful coloration. The French-blue has a slightly purple cast, and this contrasts beautifully with the copper-green blushes that infuse the transparent glaze adjacent to the dark engobe. There is also a nice mix of surface sheen, with the raised, black engobe looking matte, and the rest of the glazes looking shiny and wet.
It measures 9.75 inches in Diameter, and is 1.5 inches in Height. It is circular, but slightly squared off. This makes it look great when exhibited upright or vertically, but it also looks great sitting flat on a table.
The condition is Excellent; there are no scratches, chips at all. It will be packed very well and shipped USPS Priority.
More Information, Excerpted from a Gallery listing for one of these that sold a couple years ago:
"Pablo Picasso Ceramic Bouquet à la pomme (Bunch with Apple), 1956 A.R. 305 is a delicate and beautiful still life. Picasso details a bouquet of flowers set on a table with a leafy apple in the foreground. Amazingly, all of the flowers in this exquisite bouquet are different and unique, some with delicate stems and others with rounded petals. But what really makes this plate pop is the stunning blue color that colors most of the the plate. Even in matte this color would have caught the eye, but it is enhanced by the glazed nature of the surface. The blue shines and winks at the viewer, and presents a deep and clear background for our still life.
Picasso plays with subjects, by placing his still life on a plate – though this particular plate is certainly more art than practical eating surface, we still see an edible looking apple set on a plate before us. The way that Picasso has rendered the black lines makes the apple look in relief, as if it was popping out of the plate into our outstretched hand.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Pablo Picasso ceramic Bunch with Apple (Bouquet à la pomme), 1956 A.R. 305 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).
1. Ramié, Alain. Picasso Catalogue of the edited ceramic works 1947-1971. Madoura: 1988. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 305. "