For sale is this engaging, large, pre-raphaelite enamel plaque by the French Limoges enameller Paul Bonnaud.  Bonnaud is known as one of the great enamellers of Limoges at the start of the 20th century and this plaque represents an example of his finest work.

The plaque is a redacted copy of a famous William Waterhouse oil painting “Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May ”.  This is shown in the images.  Bonnaud has removed all the figures from Waterhouse’s original work asides the central figure.

The colours in Bonnaud’s enamel do not quite match the Waterhouse original and there are other small differences in detail.  I am pretty confident that is at least partly because Bonnaud had never seen the original oil painting but was inspired by a black and white image in the Studio, August 1911, volume 53, page 180.  See images.  The Waterhouse picture was based on the 17th century poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by  Robert Herrick (see link), and was never exhibited, being a commission that went straight to a private collection.  The picture itself was lost until being found in Canada in the 1990’s.

Paul Bonnaud (1873-1953), was an artist and master enameller in Limoges at the beginning of the  20th century. Limoges has been the center of enamel art in France for centuries.  He belongs, with Jules Sarlandie, to the generation of artists who contribute to the fame of Limoges enamel, he introduced new technics and was very innovative, also in an artistic way.

He participated at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and  in several other major  exhibitions, including the Paris Salon c 1900-1905.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Limoges, has several vases of Paul Bonnaud in their collection.

Price: Sold

Maker: Paul Bonnaud

Designer: Paul Bonnaud

Date : c 1912

Marks: Signed, P Bonnaud, Limoges

Material: Enamel on copper, wooden frame

Condition: Excellent, enamel is perfect

Size: Visible plaque 19.5 cm x 15.75 cm

Weight : NM