Muguet de Paris

Since launching my blog a few days ago,  many of you have asked the origin of the photo in the header. In fact, it is an architectural detail, the cornice of the structure that is shown in its entirety in the photo below. 

Just to the right of the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, on the side adjacent to the boulevard Saint-Germain, there is a small garden that dates from the days of the ancient abbey. It is now known as Square Félix Desruelles, in honor of the sculptor whose work, a pastoral fountain, is on the west side of the garden. 

It is found on one of the busiest streets, in one of the busiest neighborhoods in Paris, and yet a surprising number of people don’t know it’s there. Although I had walked past it for years, I confess that it was only last year that I discovered it.

In the center of the garden stands a statue representing the Renaissance ceramicist Bernard Palissy, and, at the east end, there is another structure that commemorates French accomplishment in the area of ceramics.

It is a section of the facade of the pavilion built to display the products of the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres at the Universal Exposition of 1900. It is the work of the sculptor Jules-Félix Coutan and the architect Charles Risler. The pavilion was conceived  in the Art Nouveau style that was prevalent at the time and constructed entirely of glazed ceramic. 

Just below the cornice on either side is a cartouche bearing the dates 1793 and 1900, respectively, the former being the date work began on the current location of the Manufacture, which was formerly at Vincennes, and the latter, the date of the Exposition. 

There is an accumulation of ornamental elements that are characteristic of the Art Nouveau style — oak leaves, thistle, mistletoe, scarab beatles. A central medallion with a young woman (see detail, above right), surmounts a frieze in high relief (seen below) that depicts a central figure of a woman, surrounded by young boys who seem to be working at various stages of the potter’s trade.  

As you can imagine, there was a wealth of details from which to choose, and it was no easy matter choosing something to use in my header. I have learned, living in Paris, that there are three things without which one should never leave home — sunglasses, an umbrella, and a camera.  

Jan del Monte, blogging from the rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris, France

© 2008 Jan del Monte

∞

~ by Jane del Monte on March 14, 2008.

Posted in Architecture, Potpourri