Black Ceramic Fish-Form Vide-Poche, France, circa 1970

This handsome vide-poche belongs to a distinguished tradition of French ceramics in which the animal form — reduced, stylised, and elevated — becomes a vehicle for the expression of material and craft quality. Modelled as a stylised fish seen from above, the piece has the confident, slightly abstracted character of a work designed by a ceramist fully in control of their medium: the fins and tail are reduced to bold, schematic forms, while the body swells in a single organic volume that fills the palm comfortably.

The entire surface of the body is covered in a pattern of deeply impressed, overlapping scales — each scale individually tooled or pressed, the accumulated effect creating a surface of exceptional tactile and visual richness. The glaze is a deep, highly polished black of great intensity, the colour settling and deepening in the recesses between the scales to create a subtle chromatic variation across the otherwise uniform surface. The result is an object that rewards handling as much as looking: cool, weighty, and sensuously satisfying.

The hollowed back of the fish forms the functional heart of the vide-poche — a smooth, shallow receptacle that comfortably accommodates rings, cufflinks, coins and other small desk or dressing-table effects. At only 5 cm in height, the piece occupies virtually no space while making a quiet, authoritative presence.

In good vintage condition, with slight wear consistent with careful domestic use.