Picasso Excelling Even Himself

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Most of the ‘One-off’ ceramic works (approximately 4000) which Picasso decorated and sculpted were held in the artists’ studio where they remained out of sight.
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Several hundred of these works were copied and sold in limited-editions. These pieces are eagerly collected and well understood.
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It is generally acknowledged that the limited edition copies that were made fail to capture the shear quality and incomparable variety of Picasso's original artworks.
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The subject matter, the brilliant artistry and extraordinary compositional balance of the ceramic piece which this blog is about, support my conviction that it is not just a ‘One-off’ work from the hands of Pablo Picasso, but one with which even he excelled himself.

Knights in Armour

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It’s easy to identify subjects which Picasso enjoyed working with. One of his favourite themes was bullfighting and the bullring. He produced numerous artworks in most mediums which were dedicated to the ‘Corrida’. Some times these works were produced in series over a short period. Other subjects were addressed in a similar fashion but, unlike bullfighting, were used in only one series.

In early 1951 Picasso focused upon the matter of knights and their mounts. During this burst of enery he painted ‘Pages at Play’ (see above), he produced a series of pen and ink drawings of knights in armour, and interestingly, meticulously decorated several ceramic works of jousting scenes. These works may be viewed on the ‘On-line Picasso Project’ - addressed to the right (Artworks; 1951; page 3).

There can be little doubt that the ‘Jousting Scene’ ceramics are the most detailed artworks of Picasso’s entire ceramic output (see Post: 14 October 2009).

I believe it was during this period in 1951 that Picasso may have produced the ‘Knight and Mount’ ceramic plate – the subject of this blog.
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Picasso or Not - Who Knows?

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Between 1947 and 1973 Picasso reportedly produced and/or decorated approximately 4000 ceramics. Of these one-off pieces some 500 items were reproduced in 'edition' copies by the Madoura Potteries in Vallauris. Those selected were issued in editions ranging from 5 to 500 copies. I have no idea how many copies were reproduced in total although each item was marked as an edition piece together with total number in the series i.e. 126/500 meaning; reproduction 126 in a series of 500.

It's difficult to understand where that figure 4000 came from and to know if anybody has a true record of how many ceramics Picasso actually produced in total.

The helpful and ongoing 'On-line Picasso Project' (link to the right) identifies just 765 ceramic works that they believe were produced by the hands of Pablo Picasso. What has happened to the other 3235 (approximately) ceramic artworks he is reported to have produced? I have yet to consult Zervos and other catalogues on this matter.

Not all his output can easily be accounted for. I believe the plate shown above to be the work of Picasso and am trying to prove it.
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