Large Blue & White French Faience Ginger Jar With Birds Desvres, Circa 1880

Large blue & white French Faience ginger jar or covered jar with birds signed Desvres Fourmaintraux, circa 1880.
Gabriel Emile Georges Alexandre Fourmaintraux, born 26 May 1886 in Desvres, was a member of a noted family of French ceramicists. His father was Emile Fourmaintraux (1857-1929) and his mother was Elisa Moison (1863-1930). He married Marguerite (known as Margo) and was the father of glass artist Pierre Fourmaintraux and ceramicist Claude Fourmaintraux. He studied ceramics at the Graduate School of ceramics in Sèvres and graduated “Major” in his class. He was active from 1905 until he retired in 1982.
The Fourmaintraux family’s ceramics business can trace its origins to when in 1804, François-Joseph Fourmaintraux, a former worker at Sta, founded his own factory. The ceramicist Camille Fourmaintraux, is the 10th generation of his family working in ceramics. Historically, the family’s name can sometimes be found spelt “Fourmentraux”