Communication for the purpose of cultural promotion of artists included in the María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Foundation Collection protected by intellectual property rights. Reproduction, in whole or in part, or processing by any means, or transmission or transfer in any form, without the authorisation of the owner of the rights to the works, is prohibited.
Vase tête endormie
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Author: Paco Durrio (Francisco Durrieu de Madron, Valladolid, 1868-París, 1940)
Title: Vase tête endormie
Year: c. 1930
Tecnique: glazed ceramic
Size: 17,5 x 17 x 26 cm
This ceramic piece by Paco Durrio is not dated, but its similarity to Cabeza de durmiente [Head of a Sleeper] in the collection of the Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, which is generally considered to have been made around 1930, would suggest a date within that same period in time. In both pieces the sculptor based his work on one of his habitual iconographic motifs: the human head, seen here with elongated and exotic features – perhaps those of Cleopatra, if we consider the synthetic treatment of the hair, which is identical to the hair style of the Egyptian queen in some of the jewellery that Durrio created. The figure is represented in the abandon of sleep, with its mouth half open, drooping eyelids and the right side of its face resting on one of its hands. Durrio created ceramic sculptures of great interest, but he also produced a considerable number of pieces like this one, which served a clear utilitarian purpose as jugs, bowls, ashtrays, flower vases, etc.
The piece entered the Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson Collection in 2021, after being acquired at Haynault Auctions (Brussels) on 19 April 2021 (lot 149).