Pottery by Olivier Mathey in CERAMICA CH

Roland Blaettler, 2019

The Historical Museum in Le Locle and the Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel have two pieces by Olivier Mathey, who worked in Le Locle as a pottery painter; one is a refined white earthenware saucer dated 1874 (MHLo 0163 MH), the other is a porcelain plate (MAHN AA 5357 – Genava 28, 1980, Fig. 28, p. 282); both have a colour palette on their undersides.

The Musée Ariana in Geneva also has a porcelain cup and a saucer with enamelled decoration by him in its collection. The latter has a medallion with a portrait of a woman and a garland frieze in the style of Louis XVI and is signed and dated “Olivier Mathey – Le Locle – 1877” (MAG AR 6079).

During our research we discovered an Auguste Olivier Mathey, who was a chemist and certified assayer at the Assay Office in Le Locle. He was also known, however, as the author of several world-renowned publications on the topic of “gilding and silver-plating using the electrochemical method”, which was mainly used by clockmakers. The publications came out between 1855 and 1890. In the 1870s he gave several lectures at the Neuchâtel Society of Natural Sciences about his experiments with overglaze painting. In 1873, for instance, he gave a brief lecture at the society about painting on glazes, particularly in the field of ceramics, and illustrated his remarks with a number of examples of polychrome in-glaze painted decorations on faience (Bulletin de la Société des sciences naturelles de Neuchâtel, t. IX, 376-380). Mathey also referenced works by his students, which suggests that he may have established a school of pottery- and enamel painting in Le Locle.

Translation: Sandy Haemmerle

References:

Blaettler/Ducret/Schnyder 2013
Roland Blaettler/Peter Ducret/Rudolf Schnyder, CERAMICA CH I: Neuchâtel (Inventaire national de la céramique dans les collections publiques suisses, 1500-1950), Sulgen 2013, 496.