Lot 378: Picasso Madoura Fish Pitcher, Sujet Poisson

Pablo Picasso (Spain/France, 1881-1973), Sujet Poisson (A.R. 139), terracotta pitcher with black and white engobe in the form of a fish, designed 1952 and executed in an edition of 500. Underside stamped and signed "Edition Picasso / Madoura Plein Feu / Edition Picasso / Madoura". 8"L (20.5 cm) x 5"H (12.5 cm) x 3 1/2"D (9 cm).

PROVENANCE: The collection of the late Norman and Betty Luboff, acquired in Vallauris in the 1950s. Norman Luboff (1917-1987) was an internationally known American composer, music arranger and conductor, best known for his work with the Norman Luboff Choir. He was also a passionate collector of Picasso ceramics. This Fish pitcher appears in the background of a period photo of Luboff at his piano (see last catalog photo, # 13). Norman and Betty divorced in the mid 1960s, and Norman eventually remarried Gunilla Luboff and moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His Picasso ceramics collection was exhibited at the Wills N. Hackney Library at the Atlantic Christian University in Chapel Hill between 1985 and 1987, when Luboff passed away. Copies of an undated Chapel Hill Newsletter article about Luboff and the exhibit, picturing this Fish, the Femme Lamp, and Corrida Fond Noir platter are available to the winning bidder of this lot. (Note: the article incorrectly states that Gunilla was Norman's wife when the ceramics were purchased; he was actually married to Betty at the time). The collection has descended in the Luboff family to the present consignor.

CONDITION: Excellent condition.