A Pair of Palissy Ware Majolica Candlesticks by Thomas-Victor Sargent, each formed as a stylized flower with a lizard at the base of the stem and a coiled snake at the top, the circular bases with cobalt-blue-glazed water with aquatic flowers and leaves, the reverses with impressed 'TS' mark.

Thomas-Victor Sargent (French 1830-1890) was an important maker from the School of Paris from 1870 to ca. 1885.

According to Nichols, as a true devotee to the 16th-century master Bernard Palissy, Sargent was an accomplished chemist as well as a gifted ceramist.

"He made all of his own materials, including his enamels and glazes, and he developed his own clay formula for maximum plasticity. He made his own moulds and produced extremely vibrant colours such as cobalt blue, yellow, orange, and greens" (Katz-Lehr, p. 135).

LITERATURE

Marshall P. Katz and Robert Lehr, PALISSY WARE: 19th Century French Ceramists From Avisseau to Renoleau. London: The Athelone Press, 1996, p. 135. For the section on Thomas Sergent with numerous photos, see pp. 135-142.