Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Visage en forme d’Horloge
Silver repoussé plate with wooden presentation box
42.5 cm (16 3/4 in.) diameter
Conceived in 1956
and executed in silver by François and Pierre Hugo in a numbered edition of 20
plus two exemplaires d’artiste, two exemplaires d’auteur.
Stamped with the artist’s signature and numbered ‘Picasso 6/20’ and stamped with the silversmith’s mark, the French assay mark for silver and numbered ‘1425/4671’ (on the reverse)
• The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Ateliers Hugo.
• Provenance
– Atelier François & Pierre Hugo, France.
– Private collection, Europe
– Bonhams London, “Picassomania”, 18 May 2022, lot 30.
• Literature
– G. Bloch, Pablo Picasso: Catalogue de l’oeuvre gravé céramique, 1949-1971, Vol. III, Bern, 1972, no. 94 (white earthenware version illustrated p. 80).
– D. Cooper, Picasso, 19 plats en argent par François et Pierre Hugo, Paris, 1977 (another version illustrated).
– A. Ramié, Picasso, Catalogue of the edited ceramic works, 1947-1971, Madoura, 1988, no. 326 (white earthenware version illustrated p. 166).
– P. Hugo & C. Siaud, Bijoux d’artistes: Hommage à François Hugo, Aix-en-Provence, 2001, no. 2 (another version illustrated p. 170).
Verso:
This is Picasso at his most alchemical: an image originally conceived in ceramic, reborn here in solid silver. Working with master silversmiths François and Pierre Hugo, Picasso translated a handful of his most striking ceramic designs into precious metal through the ancient technique of repoussé — hand-hammering the design in relief from the reverse. The result is a face reimagined as a clock, its features built from radiating, sculptural lines that catch light across the full 42.5 cm diameter of the plate, an object that sits somewhere between tableware, sculpture, and portrait.
Rarity here is extreme even by Picasso’s standards: the edition numbers just 20 examples in silver, plus a handful of artist’s and author’s proofs — a fraction of the runs typical of his ceramic editions, which often reached into the hundreds. This example, number 6/20, is fully stamped with Picasso’s signature, the silversmith’s mark, and the French assay mark for silver, and its authenticity has been formally confirmed by Ateliers Hugo itself. Its provenance runs directly from the Atelier François & Pierre Hugo through a European private collection to Bonhams London’s dedicated “Picassomania” sale in 2022. The work is documented across four standard references on Picasso’s editioned output, including Georges Bloch’s catalogue raisonné of the graphic and ceramic work and Alain Ramié’s Madoura catalogue.
For a collector, this piece offers something genuinely singular: Picasso’s imagery executed not in clay or paint but in silver, in an edition so small it rarely surfaces at auction, backed by atelier-confirmed authenticity and a clean, well-documented chain of ownership.