1950s Dieulefit Pottery Dish by Siméon Roussin w/ Handwritten French Quote - 10¼"

This charming small earthenware dish was made by Siméon Roussin (1879–1959) in the Dieulefit pottery region in the 1950s. Hand-crafted with a gently shaped, slightly irregular outline, it is covered in a warm ochre glaze whose tonal variations move from straw yellow to deeper honey tones, enhancing the individuality of the handmade surface. Across the center, Roussin has freely inscribed in dark brown: « On entre, on crie, et c’est la vie… On crie, on sort, et c’est la mort… », loosely translated as “We enter, we cry, and that is life; we cry, we leave, and that is death.” In French, the rhyming pairs crie/vie and sort/mort give the words an almost sing-song quality, close to a popular saying or little folk verse. Light age-related wear is visible throughout, and the slightly uneven handmade base gives the dish a subtle wobble.

The simple form, warm glaze and handwritten inscription are characteristic of Roussin’s engaging workshop pieces, in which everyday pottery became a vehicle for humorous or reflective sayings. The rhyming quatrain, “We enter, we cry, and that is life; we cry, we leave, and that is death,” is attributed to the 19th-century French writer Ausone de Chancel (1808–1878). Its almost childlike rhyme between crie/vie and sort/mort gives a light rhythm to a philosophical thought: an entire human life reduced, with humor and a touch of fatalism, to the passage between arrival and departure.

This mixture of wit and reflection gives the dish much of its charm, whether displayed or used as a catchall or for serving small aperitif bites. A similar dish by the same potter, with a different saying, is also available here.