Sculpture and Trompe l’œil in European Ceramics, from Bernard Palissy to the Present Day – RECORDINGS NOW AVAILABLE
Second Annual International Conference on European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Hôtel de la Roche, Mons (Belgium) | 10–13 July 2026
JOIN HERE via YouTube
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
Keynote Lecture 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 la porcelaine de Dihl et Guerhard au Salon de 1798
16.20-17.05 Errol Manners, historic ceramics specialist, London
Keynote Lecture Louis-François Roubiliac and Chelsea porcelain, a reassessment
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 conference recordings are available on YouTube for free, The Low Countries Sculpture Society: https://www.youtube.com/@Lowcountriessculpturesociety
Proceedings will be published in 2027 in a new academic journal dedicated to European sculpture and decorative arts.
For further information, contact: