Rating and 2024 value of Picasso x Madoura dishes

If you own a dish made by or after the artist Pablo Picasso in collaboration with the Madoura studio, and you'd like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will offer you their appraisal services. Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its current market value. Then, if you wish to sell your work, we'll guide you towards the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price.

Rating and value of Picasso x Madoura dishes

The works born of the collaboration between Pablo Picasso and Suzanne Ramié were produced in the Madoura studio from 1938 onwards. Most of these works are in ceramic, but there are also a number in terracotta and earthenware. Together, the two artists produced everyday objects, including dishes, always in the Provencal tradition. Dishes from this collaboration sold for between €3,200 and €37,000. A large circular blue-glazed ceramic dish, known as "Visage", sold for €28,000 in 2017, whereas it was estimated at €1,500-2,000, suggesting a strong upside potential for these objects.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Style and technique of Picasso Madoura's works

At the Madoura workshop, Picasso and Suzanne Ramié explored anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms with fascination. They fashioned a myriad of creatures, from hieratic owls and majestic birds to owls, fish and white doves. The shapes of the dishes published by Madoura are quite similar, circular or oval. The materials used, on the other hand, are quite diverse: earthenware, glazed ceramics and terracotta. The result can vary from one work to another, depending on the animal represented and the colors used.

The Madoura studio and collaboration with Picasso

Madoura is a pottery workshop created in 1938 by Suzanne and Georges Ramié, in Vallauris, a town nestled in the hills between Antibes and Cannes. During a summer vacation in 1946, in the company of Françoise Gilot, painter and writer, Suzanne Ramié gave Pablo Picasso his first tour of Madoura's admirable pottery workshop. He was amazed. The Ramié couple diligently encouraged him to model Madoura clay, serving the illustrious artist on a silver platter a new way to exercise his dazzling creativity.

Bullfighting scenes and representations of bulls in general are among the most popular items on the auction market.

The impact of Picasso x Madoura on their time

Picasso created more than 3,600 ceramic pieces at the Madoura workshop, the fruit of a meeting between Suzanne Ramié and Picasso. Picasso's ceramics reveal reckless exploration and creative spontaneity. Picasso succeeded in bringing to life new artistic formalisms, which he had already been trying to approach since his Cubist period, by combining sculpture, painting and printing techniques. By virtue of their third dimension, ceramic objects provide a new playground for the artist, lending semantic and conceptual significance to his remarkable use of surface and volume. In this way, he conveys in three dimensions what he had hoped to communicate through his painted canvases, in this case without perspective, laws or academic rules. What's more, these ceramics require a great deal of skill to be able to paint them without knowing the final rendering, which appears once the firing is complete. Picasso offered his art to a new public who could own a work by the artist thanks to more accessible prices.

The plates resulting from this collaboration are particularly prized and sought-after for their originality, their decorative aspect and their utilitarian aspect.

The presence of the Madoura workshop on the auction market

These ceramics became part of the home, and were quickly snapped up by collectors. Between 1950 and 1960, many distinguished artists such as Marc Chagall, Victor Brauner, Foujita and Matisse passed through La Poterie Madoura. The studio became so renowned that in 1953, Suzanne Ramié was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

Today, Picasso's dishes and other objects produced in his studio are the most sought-after items at the house founded by Suzanne Ramié. They offer Picasso enthusiasts and collectors a different view of the artist.

Recognizing the Picasso Madoura signature

It is important to have your work appraised, as there are unfortunately many counterfeits. The stamp ("édition Picasso Madoura") and the serial number indicate the authenticity of the work.

Knowing the value of a Picasso x Madoura plate

If you happen to own a "Picasso x Madoura" dish, don't hesitate to request a free appraisal using the form on our website. A member of our team will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the value of your work, as well as any relevant information about it. If you're thinking of selling your work, our specialists will also be on hand to help you find alternatives for selling it at the best possible price.