Vintage Hand-Painted Vallauris Ravier — French Olive Tray with Red Poppy, Signed, 10.5"

A long, narrow hand-painted tray from Vallauris, the pottery town on the Côte d'Azur — speckled oatmeal glaze flecked with brown, two broad red bands running the length of it, and a single red poppy painted straight across the middle with a black-and-gold eye.

Above the poppy sits one small purple olive, which tells you what the shape is for. In French this form is a ravier: the long shallow dish that goes on the table for olives, cornichons, radishes or almonds with an apéritif.

The painting is freehand and unhurried — the leaves are laid in with grey-green strokes, the petals shade from scarlet to deep rust, and no two of these are ever quite alike. Signed Vallauris in green script on the reverse.

A note on the mark, because it matters: the reverse is signed, and VALLAURIS is perfectly legible. The word before it does not resolve clearly enough to name a pottery, and Vallauris itself is a town rather than a maker — dozens of ateliers there marked their work with just the place name. So this is offered as signed Vallauris and nothing more.

Signed Vallauris on the reverse

Small chip on left top side - see photo at 5x magnification