Clément Massier, an accomplished ceramist born into a multi-generational family of potters working in Vallauris, France in the second half of the 19th century, transcended his family’s metier. Rather than creating utilitarian objects as a means unto themselves, he used the ceramic medium as an aesthetic platform to make art.

Among the many international awards earned during his lifetime, Massier was awarded a gold medal at the world’s fair, Exposition Universelle* held in Paris in 1889. At the Exposition, it was Massier’s ceramic glazing techniques, using turquoise metallic luster, which captured the world’s attention. Massier’s metallic luster glazes produce the dual properties of reflectivity and transpa...