Architectural stoneware of the Bigot-hall, naiad (2013.77.1.)

At the 1900 Exposition Universelle of Paris, Bigot’s ceramics factory presented a selection of architectural stoneware in the form of a ‘pavilion’ designed by Jules Lavirotte, and the display won the Grand Prix of the fair. The open hall, the flight of stairs, the walls decorated with friezes and panels, and the pots—all that can be seen in the photo presented here, as well as in such contemporary French magazines of applied art as Art et décoration and Revue des arts décoratifs—were meant to illustrate the use of the architectural elements, tiles, fireplaces, reliefs and sculptures, decorative and utilitarian objects that the company produced for the exteriors and interiors of buildings.
The then director of the Museum of Applied Arts, Jenő Radisics, purchased the entire Bigot installation, as he reported in a letter to the Minister of Religion and Public Education on 25 October 1900 (IM Archives): ‘I bought a total of 109 pieces for the museum from the loan made available to me. I attach particular importance to Bigot's monumental installation, a work from the Paris exhibition known the world over and by far the most artistic in the field of ceramics, for which its creator was awarded the Grand Prix and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Incidentally, it was the museum's official representative in Paris, M. L. Delamarre-Didot, who earned himself a great deal of credit for this exceptional acquisition, as he led the negotiations...’
The acquisition, Item 107 on the second handwritten list of works purchased at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, is described thus: ‘A wall decorated with high-fire glazes in different colours, with a pillared doorway and [illegible word], stairs and floor.’
The Exposition Universelle closed on 12 November 1900, and in December the shipment, which weighed nearly 13 tons, left Paris for Budapest. In a letter dated 25 January 1901, Jenő Radisics informed the Bigot company that their consignment ‘arrived in perfect condition to the great glory of French ceramics, and as a great treasure for the Museum.’

The naiad made at Bigot’s ceramics factory was built into the facade of the residential building at 3 Square Rapp (Paris, 7th arrondissement), which was constructed in 1899 to the design of Jules Lavirotte.