Rating and value of Jacques Blin's vases, ceramics and stoneware

If you own an object created by Jacques Blin or after, and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will offer you their appraisal services.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its value on the current market.

Then, should you wish to sell your work, we will direct you to the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price.

Rating and value of Jacques Blin's works

Jacques Blin is a French artist who is fairly well known to collectors of ceramics and sculpture. If you own one of his works, it may be worth more than you think. On the art market, prices for Blin's works can be very high at the auctioneer's hammer.

His ceramic works are particularly prized by French and European buyers, and the price at which they sell on the art market ranges from €30 to €10,500, a fairly substantial range, but one that says a lot about the value that can be attributed to Blin's works.

In 2014, a ceramic decanter dating from 1950 sold for €10,500, while it was estimated at between €4,500 and €5,500.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Style and technique of artist Jacques Blin

Jacques Blin has produced worked ceramics that don't fit into any particular trend. He is strongly inspired by the animal world, working with various sculptural techniques including earthenware and glazed ceramics.

The artist developed a singular aesthetic at the crossroads of art ceramics and graphic arts. From the 1950s onwards, he developed an immediately recognizable plastic language, characterized by pure forms and incised decorations, which enabled him to position himself on the border between utilitarian design and free plastic expression.

He favors simple, balanced, biomorphic volumes, often inspired by the organic universe (ovoid, constricted bellies, short necks), which he turns, molds or assembles, in a logic of artisanal series. The softness of the lines and the absence of sharp angles reflect an aesthetic of roundness and restraint.

Blin has developed a technique of raw-engraving decoration, which involves incising the still-fresh surface of the clay, often with a stylus or needle, before firing. This process is inspired by sgraffito, and enables the emergence of a highly personal graphic vocabulary, somewhere between symbolic figuration and automatic writing.

He composes a dreamlike, architectural bestiary, populated by hybrid animals, stylized birds, totemic creatures and abstract signs. He also masters matte and smoky enamels. His palette is dominated by muted, mineral tones.

With Blin, the decorated surface is never an added ornament, but an organic extension of the volume, thought of as an integrated narrative support. His work is also the result of empirical research and a refusal of industrialization.

The artist is self-taught in ceramics, and develops his own glaze recipes and firing protocols, in a logic of constant experimentation, while refusing to standardize forms.

His practice is in the spirit of the ateliers d'auteur of the post-war French ceramic revival. Although unclassifiable, his work dialogues with the productions of Georges Jouve, the graphic research of Roger Capron or even art brut and the primitive arts, while asserting an autonomous aesthetic identity.

The life of Jacques Blin    

Jacques Blin (1920-1995) was a twentieth-century ceramist working near Paris.

Born in the Oise region of France, he started out as an aviator while teaching industrial design. In 1949, after a career in aviation, he decided to devote himself entirely to art. He began sculpting ceramics in Paris, Auxon and Indre-et-Loire.

He introduced his creations to Paris, which were unique and produced in artisanal quantities.

In 1955, he met Jean Rustin, through whom he defined his own style and technique : scarified decoration, obtained through the use of metallic oxides before glazing. This enabled him to achieve results similar to primitive art, and his works are even described as neo-Prehistoric.

He received several distinctions throughout his career. 

Jacques Blin on the auction market

There is no longer a factory or gallery with a monopoly marketing Blin's works today. As a result, the auction market is a favored route for acquiring one of his works.

They are highly prized at auction, and whether it's a stoneware sculpture, an animal model, a ceramic bowl or some other work, they are all in demand.

Market segmentation and artist rating

Jacques Blin is today recognized as one of the major players in the post-war revival of French ceramics, alongside such figures as Jouve, André Aleth Masson and Jean Derval. His work is part of an auteur approach, at the crossroads of decorative art and fine art.

The market has been consolidating strongly since the 2010s, with steady, structured growth driven by the valorization of twentieth-century fire art, but also by growing collector interest in non-industrial ceramic production with a strong graphic dimension.

Large-format pieces (vases, lamps, bowls) with complex, well-preserved incised decoration are the most sought-after. Signed, referenced pieces from historical collections (or former specialist dealers) reach the highest bidding levels.

The market is segmented by type of object : decorated utilitarian objects (vases, bowls, goblets) which constitute the main segment, with high investment potential  exceptional pieces (lamps, architectural forms, large jars) constitute the high-end segment, and is often aimed at specialized collectors or international galleries.

Small objects and simple series are the most accessible lots, and are aimed at a public of amateurs and new collectors.

Common small-format pieces range from €400 to €1,200, while large works in perfect condition and with complex decoration regularly fetch €5,000 to €12,000. Some rare or museum pieces occasionally exceed €15,000 in the showroom.

Jacques Blin's works circulate mainly in sales specializing in twentieth-century design. The market attracts a dual audience: on the one hand, collectors specialized in French ceramics, connoisseurs of the French scene from the 1950s - 1970s, and on the other, design collectors or contemporary art enthusiasts, seduced by the graphic and timeless aspect of his forms.

Blin's quotation is also supported by a growing museum visibility, notably at the Musée National de Céramique de Sèvres or in the collections of the MADD in Bordeaux. His work is also enjoying a critical revival, thanks to recent publications and exhibitions devoted to auteur ceramics.

Jacques Blin now appears as an artist with strong potential for revaluation, particularly on the national market. His plastic language is identifiable, the pieces are rare and often well-preserved, and growing institutional recognition make him a rising heritage value in the field of twentieth-century decorative arts.

Recognize Jacques Blin's signature    

Not all objects produced by Jacques Blin are signed, or may be signed differently depending on the period. In addition, there are many copies, which is why it's important to appraise your work.

Knowing the value of a work

If you happen to own a work by or after Jacques Blin, don't hesitate to request a free appraisal using our form on our website.

A member of our team of experts and certified auctioneers will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the market value of your work, as well as any relevant information about it.

If you're thinking of selling your work, our specialists will also be on hand to provide you with alternatives for selling it at the best possible price, taking into account market inclinations.