Ernest Chaplet, the famous French ceramist, was a true pioneer of the artistic revival that took place in France in the last quarter of the 19th century. His work oscillates between his personal works and his collaboration with Charles Haviland, who took over the management of the Paris workshops of Haviland & Cie in 1882. There, he created brown stoneware and, from 1885, glazed stoneware in the Japanese style. Shortly before, between 1857 and 1874, Chaplet worked with François Laurin in Bourg-la-Reine, producing painted terracottas and so-called impressionist slip. In 1885, the artist broke away from Charles Haviland, who sold him his workshops in Auteuil. Then, in 1887, he moved permanently to Choisy-le-Roi. It was here that he developed his ‘flammés’, working tirelessly to master the process of producing ‘sang de bœuf’ (oxblood) on porcelain, using enamel known as ‘copper red’. The mid-1880s also marked his meeting and collaboration with the painter Paul Gauguin, whom he trained in ceramics. Throughout his life, Ernest Chaplet innovated in his art, switching back and forth between stoneware and porcelain, paving the way for the nascent Art Nouveau movement and influencing many 20th-century ceramists.