Georges Hoentschel

Born in Montmarte and educated as an architect, Georges Hoentschel was an elegant man with the bearing of a military officer. Handsome, trim, polite, and amiable (he was cited as "an excellent Parisian"), he was as elite as his international clientele and shared many of their interests. When he was not decorating their mansions or apartments in the manner of the 18th century, he could hold his own with them at golfing, tennis, fox hunting, and world travel.

Following somewhat in the footsteps of his maternal uncle, an eboniste, he developed a career as the designer of fashionable historical revival interiors, supervising home conversions and improvements. He regularly provided British nobility and members of the Rothschild family with French works of art dating from the 17th and 18th centuries and lacquers, ivory, ceramics, and other art objects from the Far East. His studio was said to resemble a magical treasure trove; some of his treasures later influenced his designs for ceramics.

Despite his busy social calendar, Hoentschel was a serious businessman. He employed a large staff of artisans and was determined to stay abreast of the latest trends. Like Siegfried Bing, another Paris tastemaker, Hoentschel took an interest in Japanese ceramics when they were the rage and later, as the frenzy for all things Japanese died down, turned his attention to the Japanese-influenced Art Nouveau style.

In the late 1880s Hoentschel met Jean Carriès , a successful sculptor who was then developing an interest in ceramics. The two became close friends, Hoentschel encouraging Carriès to create Japanist ceramics that would appeal to his more advanced clients. But as soon as he perceived the growing interest in "Art Nouveau" (so-named for Bing's shop, Maison L'Art Nouveau), he became one of the leading promoters of the new, modern style. It must be noted that Hoentschel was a promoter, not an artistan. In the same way that Louis Comfort Tiffany's signature appears on works that were designed and created by others under his aegis, Hoentschel's mark appears on ceramics made by Carriès or Carriès's employees.

After Carriés's death in 1894, Hoentschel purchased his estate and acquired his studio at Montriveau. He hired Emile Grittel (1870-1953), who had been working for him as a sculptor and bronze founder, to supervise Carriès's artisans in the continued production of stoneware. Grittel worked at Montriveau from 1895 to 1900. When Hoentschel stopped using the atelier, Grittel relocated to Clichy-sur-Garenne and went into business for himself. After his feelings of betrayal calmed, Hoentschel became Grittel's principal client for the ceramics, bronzes, furniture, boiseries, and ornaments favored by his clients. The older man often visited to supervise production. Around 1900 Hoentschel contracted Emile Grittel to fabricate stoneware at his atelier in Clichy-la-Garenne. Grittel continued to anonymously manufacture ceramics for Hoentschel until 1910. In his final years, Hoentschel worked with Grittel in his Paris studio.

Hoentschel's personal trove of decorative arts was purchased in 1906 by J. P. Morgan and later donated, in part, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.