rolled effortlessly off my tongue’.

Peter Ducret’s collecting provided him not only with satisfaction, but also lasting friends and acquaintances that he might not otherwise have had. His scientific mind led him to be interested in all aspects of the pieces he collected: their techniques, history, provenance, and place within Europe's cultural heritage. His extraordinary openness to exchanging ideas, sharing his knowledge and welcoming anyone with a genuine interest in his collection made him a central figure among fellow enthusiasts. Faïence and its study became not merely a pastime but a source of personal fulfilment and a means of enriching others.

The Ducret collection covers an extraordinary range of 18th-century faïence in all its forms, but trompe l’oeil faïence occupies a place of honour. From the French for ‘deceive the eye’, trompe l’oeil objects purport to be something they are not: a cauliflower, a duck, or a bundle of asparagus. What caused this fashion in the courts of Europe? Few things were more dreaded by Europe's 18th-century aristocracy than boredom. They pursued all sorts of entertainment, such as dancing, theatre, gambling, gossip and intrigues, to relieve the monotony of courtly existence. But above all, they delighted in anything that surprised or inspired wonder. Elaborate fireworks displays, automatons, conjurors – all were sure to please. And trompe l’oeil ceramics answered this appetite for novelty. On richly laid tables, tureens fashioned as vegetables, fish or birds concealed soups of the very creatures they depicted – or, more delightfully still, an entirely unexpected sweet dessert.

It is perhaps no surprise that these ingenious creations captivated Peter Ducret more than two centuries later. His collection contains many rare and fine examples of this art, many of which are from the celebrated workshop of the Hannong dynasty in Strasbourg. A pair of duck-form tureens, a pigeon serving dish, tureens in the shape of bundles of asparagus and artichokes, and a two whimsical butter dishes in the shape of tortoises, all attest not only to Peter Ducret’s unfailing eye for quality and rarity, but also to his ambition to assemble a representative survey of this remarkable branch of faïence production, one that could be studied and appreciated by historians and collectors alike. In doing so, Peter Ducret brought together two of his deepest interests: nature and faïence.