Joseph-Théodore Deck was a 19th-century French potter

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

. Born in Guebwiller

Guebwiller

Guebwiller is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is situated northwest of Mulhouse at the foot of the Vosges mountains...

, Haut-Rhin

Haut-Rhin

Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...

, he began learning the trade in his early 20s, moving to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 at age 24. In 1856 he established his own faience

Faience

Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...

 workshop, and began to experiment with the Islamic style of ceramic making, and in particular the Iznik

Iznik

İznik is a city in Turkey which is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea...

 style. In the 1880s he also worked in the Chinese tradition, also collaborating with Raphaël Collin

Raphaël Collin

Raphaël Collin was born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and in later life a professor at the Académie des Beaux-Arts...

.

In 1887 he published a treatise under the title La Faïence.

Sources

• http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/deck.htm
• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_520_161/ai_n14919360