Danillo Curetti for Émaux de Longwy "Banquise" Polar Bear Vase, 39/50

A striking large-format boule (globular) vase from the celebrated Longwy manufactory, decorated in Danillo Curetti's "Banquise" pattern — a bold Art Deco-revival design rendered in a luminous, mirror-bright crackled platinum enamel that dominates the body of the vase. Two opposing polar bears, drawn in confident black outline against a crisp white ground, prowl across a stylized Arctic landscape rendered in expressive linear hatching, evoking snow and ice.

Danilo Curetti, a Swiss-born ceramic artist who worked closely with the Longwy manufactory beginning in the 1980s, was known for pairing the firm's centuries-old cloisonné-enamel and crackle-glaze traditions with graphic, high-contrast animal and figural motifs — polar bears, panthers, greyhounds — set against dramatic metallic grounds of platinum or gold. His work modernized Longwy's decorative vocabulary while preserving its hallmark hand-finishing techniques, and pieces from his limited editions are actively collected today. This "Banquise" model, produced in an edition of only 50, is among his more sought-after designs for its dramatic use of platinum luster against the sculptural polar bear imagery.
Underside stamped with the Atelier d'Art Émaux de Longwy crest ("Faïencerie de Longwy depuis 1798"), titled "Banquise," reference 167330, numbered "Tir. Lim. 39/50," and signed by the decorator (Danilo Curetti). The artist's "DC" monogram is incised to the body of the vase.