Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon

Marc-Louis E. Solon
Born	1835 Montauban
Died	23 June 1913
Nationality	French
Occupation	Porcelain artist
Known for	Pâte-sur-pâte

Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon (1835 – 1913), pseudonym Miles, was a renowned French porcelain artist. After beginning his career at the Sèvres Pottery, he moved to Stoke-on-Trent in 1870 to work at Mintons Ltd, where he became the leading exponent of the technique of ceramic decoration called pâte-sur-pâte. His work commanded high prices in the late Victorian period.

Solon was born in Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne. After moving to England at the time of the Franco-Prussian War he lived there for the rest of his life.

Solon married Laure, the daughter of Minton's art director, Léon Arnoux, and the Solons raised a large family in The Villas near the Mintons factory. Their eldest son, Léon-Victor Solon (1872–1957), joined Minton in the 1890s and became art director (1900–1909). Leon made an important contribution to art nouveau ceramics at Minton before moving to the USA. Other notable sons include Camille Solon and Albert Solon of Solon and Schemmel Tile Company.

Despite some family resistance to his becoming an artist, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and with Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran. Some of Solon's work came to the attention of the art director of the Sèvres Pottery. Solon was employed at Sèvres from 1862–70 as a ceramic artist and designer and was where he learned and began to perfect the technique of pâte-sur-pâte. His styles were derived from Classical Greece, the Renaissance, 17th- and 18th-century paintings, and Victorian postcards while his subjects often included portraits, female figures, putti (cherubs), small animals, and birds. His early work was produced under the pseudonym Miles, said to be based on his initials M L E S. A number of these earlier pieces are housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the collection of the former Minton Museum.

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