06/29/2026
ONLINE Conference: FREE (Please Share)
Second Annual International Conference on European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
'Sculpture and Trompe l’œil in European Ceramics, from Bernard Palissy to the Present Day'
12 and 13 July 2026
This international conference explores the rich and under-studied relationship between sculpture, trompe l’œil and European ceramics, from the Renaissance to the present day. Organised jointly by the Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ébénistes and the Low Countries Sculpture Society, the event builds on the success of its inaugural edition in 2025.
Focusing on ceramics as a sculptural medium, the conference will examine figurative sculpture in the round, relief, illusionistic effects and the imitation of materials such as wood and precious stone. Papers will address questions of production, design history, collecting and display, as well as collaborations between artists, artisans and manufacturers. While drawing particular attention to the ceramic traditions of the Low Countries, the programme spans Europe and North America and includes Art Deco and contemporary practice.
The conference will take place without audience (apart from the speakers, moderators and a few benefactors), but it will be filmed and broadcast live on YouTube for free, on our dedicated channel, https://www.youtube.com/
Proceedings will be published in 2027 in a new academic journal dedicated to European sculpture and decorative arts.
For further information, contact: [email protected].
Programme
Sunday 12th July 2026
9.30-10.00: Dr Léon Lock, The Low Countries Sculpture Society
Introduction
Session 1: Trompe l’œil and mimesis I
Moderator: Errol Manners, historic ceramics specialist, London
10.05-10.50:
Patricia Ferguson, London
Nature, Artifice and Spectacle: the Conceit of a Lettuce as Large as Life for the European Table in the mid-18th century
10.50-11.00: Discussion
11.00-11.30: Break
11.30-12.00:
Melody Hsu, McGill University, Montreal
Book Flask: Trompe l’Œil and Deception in Early Modern Europe
12.05-12.35:
Mariette Boudgourd, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
Jardinières bûches, verres paysages et cendriers poissons. De nouvelles formes de la nature « genre Palissy » au XIXe siècle en France
12.35-12.45: Discussion
12.45-14.00: Lunch Break
Session 2: Trompe l’œil and mimesis II
Moderator: Prof em Dr Volker Seiberth, University of Heidelberg / The Low Countries Sculpture Society
14.00-14.30: Prof Dr Nadia Mariana Consiglieri, Universidad de Buenos Aires (online)
Reptiles, amphibians and trompe l’œil in a Bernard Palissy ceramic piece from the Museum of Decorative Arts in Buenos Aires
14.35-15.05: Carina-Nathalia Madonna Visconti-Paff, Sapienza Università di Roma
The Illusion of Lustre: Trompe l’œil in Hungarian Zsolnay Ceramics – Eosin Imitations of Metals and Nature in the Art Nouveau Style
15.05-15.15: Discussion
15.15-15.45: Break
Session 3: The sculptor and the sculptural in ceramics
Moderator: Bernard Dragesco, Galerie Dragesco-Cramoisan, Paris/Château de Barly
15.45-16.15: Jean-Dominique Augarde, Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ebénistes, Paris/Mons
Piat Joseph Sauvage et le Salon de 1798
16.20-17.05: Errol Manners, historic ceramics specialist, London
Keynote Lecture: Louis-François Roubiliac and Chelsea porcelain, a reassessment Discussion
17.05-17.15: Discussion
Monday 13th July 2026
Session 4: Manufactures, workshops and sculptors in ceramics
Moderator: Sylvie Millasseau-Wengraf, art historian, Switzerland
9.30-10.00:
Valérie Montens, Musées royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels and
Elise Urbain Ruano, Domaine & Musée royal de Mariemont
Entre virtuosité technique et langage décoratif : la sculpture en porcelaine à la manufacture d’Ixelles de 1830 à 1953
10.05-10.50:
Carys Wilkins et Claire Blakey, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh
European ceramic sculpture rediscovered at National Museums Scotland
10.55-11.25:
Grégory Maugé, Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ébénistes, Paris / Mons and Dr Léon Lock, The Low Countries Sculpture Society, Brussels / Mons
La sculpture en céramique en Hainaut au XXe siècle
11.25-11.35: Discussion
11.35-12.05: Break
12.05-12.20: Conclusion
The above programme is non-contractual and subject to change without notice.
