Sculpture and Trompe l’œil in European Ceramics, from Bernard Palissy to the Present Day

Second Edition of the Annual International Conference on European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Live on Youtube on Sunday 12 and Monday 13 July 2026, then in replay

A combined effort of the Centre de Recherches Historiques sur les Maîtres Ébénistes and the Low Countries Sculpture Society, whose libraries and archives have merged and are housed in the Hôtel de la Roche (1750) at Mons, the Annual International Conference had its inaugural edition in July 2025. This edition, dedicated to European ceramics, aims to address issues relating to figurative sculpture in the round, to relief sculpture and to trompe l’oeil, all in the medium of ceramics. This includes the imitation of other materials, such as wood or precious stones, and the mimetic representation of animals and plants. Sculpture and trompe l’oeil are recurring themes but have been little studied in a comprehensive manner in European ceramic art, not even in Art Deco ceramics, which frequently use sculptural forms, both in tableware and in purely decorative pieces.

For more information, see https://www.youtube.com/@Lowcountriessculpturesociety or email info@lcsculpture.art.