Plate with Tournament Scene, Knight Armour and Page.

Picasso Museum, Paris (cat. 1, 478)

Picasso produced this plate in January 1951. The work, like so many produced in all mediums throughout his lifetime, was an experiment. Picasso is reported to have stated; 'The only colour is black'. The works is rendered in black and white, and was product using a scraping technique similar to that applied in lithography. The black glaze is scraped away letting the white earthenware show through. The method produces certain effects, such as the half-tones seen in the armour and in the modelling of the Page's face.

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'Tournament, Knight & Page' may be the most detailed of all ceramics produced by Picasso. For example, examine the single strands of hair on the Page's head or the horse's tail, consider that rivets in the armour are depicted individually and be amazed that each whisker on the horse's chin has been etched-in separately. 'Tournament, Knight & Page' clearly shows that Picasso produced some minutely detailed ceramics and not just the minimalistic works generally recongised. (Left chick on the above picture to enlarge).
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