DESIGNED BY ALEXANDRE SANDIER, CIRCA 1890, THE BASE IMPRESSED SARREGUEMINES/FRANCE/1272/581/QA, INSCRIBED ALEX SANDIER TO FOOTRIM

Alexandre Sandier (1843-1916) trained as an architect at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1862-1868, then becoming a decorator and designer at the Sarreguemines factory. The present jardinière form was designed by Sandier and can be seen on a tile picture of circa 1880, now on the western façade of the Casino de Faïence in Sarreguemines, Lorraine, France. Paul de Geiger, Director of the Sarreguemines factory built the Casino as a gathering place for workers and employees at the factory and it is decorated with tile pictures both inside and out. In 1881 Sandier entered a plaster prototype of this form for the competition Prix de Sèvres, the model was so successfully received that it went on to be reproduced in majolica. The decorative moulding on the vase is emblematic of ceramic production with the urn motif repeated on the footrim of the base as well as the central frieze. The Sarreguemines Museum described this model as a ‘Coupe Sandier’ in their 1990 catalogue De l’Utile au Futile: une grand variété d'objets. In 1897 Sandier became the Artistic Director at the Sèvres factory (1897-1916) and he is associated with the creative invention of many Art Nouveau forms and experimental flambé and crystalline glazes.