Description

The first reverie. 
By Ferdinand FAIVRE (1860-1937). 
An elegant young girl is sitting on a padded throne in a luxuriant vegetal decor. 
With a dreamy look in her eyes, she seems to give herself up to daydreaming...  
Signed Ferdinand Faivre. 
Marie Antoine Ferdinand Faivre was born in Marseille on October 8, 1860 and studied sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jules Cavelier, Louis-Ernest Barrias and André-Joseph Allar. He exhibited his works at the salons of French artists between 1882 and 1924. He sculpted statuettes and bas-reliefs as well as monumental decorations: decorative groups of the Zurich bank, Egyptian Museum in Cairo, decoration of the main door: two 4.75 m high statues in relief representing Upper and Lower Egypt and the sculpture of the keystone with the head of Isis. The pediment of the Royal Automobile Club of London. 
He also decorated the facades of several Parisian buildings: a figure of abundance for the Ritz hotel, bas-reliefs, garlands and medallions on the facade of the private mansion located at 13 rue Benouville at the corner of rue de la Faisanderie, which belonged to the Hériot family, owners of the Grands Magasins du Louvre. Pediment of the Crédit Foncier de France. 
Full stoneware by Emille MULLER - Ceramist (1823-1889) Haut Rhin. 
Emile Muller created in 1854 the company of the Grande Tuilerie in Ivry-sur-Seine, specialized in ceramic products for the construction and the industry, as well as the ceramics of art. 
In addition to his personal decorative production in stoneware, he published works by artists such as Jean-Désiré Ringel d'Illzach, Alexandre Charpentier, Jules Dalou, Alexandre Falguière, Camille Claudel, Hector Guimard, Henry Nocq and Jeanne Itasse-Broquet in this same material. 
His son, Louis Muller, succeeded him after his death in 1889, taking over the company under the name Émile Muller et Compagnie. He took part in the Universal Exhibitions and won a grand prize and three gold medals at the one in Brussels in 1897. 
The works published by the company Émile Muller et Compagnie are kept at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Musée Départemental de l'Oise in Beauvais and the Musée de l'École de Nancy.