Arthur Craco & Emile Declercq, large green Art Nouveau vase, ca 1900

Bibliography (see Lancz Gallery)

.....From 1898 to 1908, Arthur Craco partnered with a potter from Rebaix: Émile Eugène Declercq. Rebaix was an old center of artisanal production of utilitarian pots where they had been thrown and fired from generation to generation. Declercq possessed the technique and the infrastructure, Craco had the innovative plastic. From this time on, Craco's production took a dual direction. The first, marked by Art Nouveau, gave the vases the floral forms of the orchid, the iris or the passion flower. The glazes, often used in shades of green, were applied by casting, giving the forms the impression of an almost organic vegetal surge. The second style, very close to that of Willy Finch, was the prerogative of more modern vases with stylized forms, whose purity contrasted with the sinuousness of the glazed castings. Alongside these two approaches, Craco also produced several ceramics with incised decorations. At the 1907 Brussels General Exhibition of Fine Arts, Craco presented a large part of his ceramic production. This included not only vases with paste oxides and poured flamed enamels, but also vases inlaid with glass paste. In 1909, Craco moved to Ledeberg to work in Frédéric Horta's ceramic factory. Some works were also signed with the names of both artists...