Jean Mayodon

Jeanne Lanvin, Paris, 1932

Gérard Landrot, Paris

Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1991

Gérald Landrot, Mayodon, Madrid, 2005, pp. 129, 194-197, 200-203 (for the present lot illustrated)

In the late 1920s, Jeanne Lanvin—legendary couturière and founder of Maison Lanvin—commissioned a bespoke ceramic service from Jean Mayodon, one of the most celebrated ceramists of the Art Deco era. This exceptional collaboration between two visionary figures epitomized the luxurious spirit and artistic innovation that defined interwar Paris.

Renowned for his richly hued, mythologically inspired ceramics, Mayodon brought a painter’s eye to the medium. His works, adorned with luminous glazes and classical motifs—nudes, satyrs, centaurs—were executed in a stylized, decorative idiom that captivated the Parisian elite. His appointment as official ceramist to the French state in 1931 further affirmed his status.

Lanvin’s commission reflected her deep engagement with the decorative arts and her close ties to leading creators of the time. Believed to have included chargers, plates, and vessels, the service was rendered in Mayodon’s signature palette of cobalt blue, emerald green, and gilded accents, with figural scenes that echoed antiquity through a distinctly modern lens.

Today, surviving pieces from this commission are exceedingly rare. Their reemergence offers collectors a singular opportunity to acquire masterworks that embody the intersection of couture and craft, and the enduring legacy of two of 20th-century France’s most influential artistic voices.