Vintage 1950s Marie-Madeleine Jolly Hand-Painted French Studio Pottery Botanical Bowl

A beautiful hand-painted French studio pottery bowl by the celebrated ceramic artist Marie-Madeleine Jolly, decorated with an elegant study of delicate trailing foliage and clusters of rich red berries. Rendered in soft sage greens, warm ochres and earthy terracotta tones, the composition has a wonderfully loose, painterly quality that perfectly complements the softly crackled ivory glaze.

Marie-Madeleine Jolly trained at the prestigious École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris before establishing her pottery workshop in Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Riviera with her husband, Philippe Madeline, in the late 1940s. Together they created beautifully handcrafted ceramics inspired by the natural world, each decorated by hand with expressive, free-flowing brushwork. Their workshop later became internationally renowned through its close collaboration with Jean Cocteau, producing many of his celebrated ceramic editions from 1957 onwards, cementing the atelier’s place in the history of post-war French ceramics.

Although this bowl predates or sits alongside that remarkable chapter, it perfectly captures everything that makes Jolly’s work so enduring: quiet elegance, painterly decoration and a deep appreciation for nature. Signed ‘MM Jolly’ to the reverse.

Whether displayed on a dresser, used as a fruit bowl or simply admired as a work of ceramic art, it is a wonderfully evocative piece of mid-century French studio pottery with an exceptional story behind it.

Dimensions;
Height: 4cm
Top diameter: 19.5cm
Base diameter: 12.5cm