A stylish Art Deco pair of crackled ceramic bookends created and manufactured by Onnaing, France.
This off-white colored crackle glaze ceramic or faience sculpture features a pair of seals or sea lions in a stylized cubist design. The bookends are marked "Onnaing - Made in France" underside of each piece.
About the manufacturer:
Onnaing earthenware is a ceramic production that developed between 1821 and 1938 in the town of Onnaing, in the "Nord" county in France.
Founded on February 2, 1821, by Ferdinand Louis de Bousies and his brother Charles de Bousies (Viscount of Rouveroy), the Onnaing earthenware factory was initially a new establishment of the Belgian factory in Nimy, intended to circumvent customs duties.
From the end of the 19th Century, the Onnaing factory grew to employ five hundred workers. It benefits from the rail network extension, which allows it to source raw materials and export its production.
The destruction due to World War I strongly affected the factory: ovens, molds, and buildings were damaged.
Production restarted in 1921 but did not return to the manufacturing levels of the beginning of the 20th century.
The demand also evolved, and manufacturing ceased in 1938. The factory was, definitively liquidated in 1947.
French Art Deco Crackle Ceramic Seal Sculpture Bookends by Onnaing
circa 1920