Pablo Picasso’s Grand Tête de Femme au Chapeau Orné (Ramié 518), 1964, a ceramic plaque in terra cotta, surface-rolled with black paint. It is a fine impression from Picasso’s celebrated Madoura period, where he transformed traditional ceramic techniques into bold, modernist statements.

The composition depicts a monumental female head adorned with an ornate, floral hat, rendered through bold incised lines and abstracted planes. The face, with its large almond-shaped eyes, geometric contours, and asymmetrical features, reflects Picasso’s lifelong fascination with the female muse—a recurring subject through which he explored identity, beauty, and transformation.

The ornamental hat crowns the figure with spirals and floral motifs, balancing the strength of the face with an air of delicacy and rhythm. Picasso plays with both volume and surface, flattening the figure into a graphic design while simultaneously allowing the terra cotta’s texture to give it a sculptural depth.

Picasso’s mastery of ceramics is evident in this work. He approached the terra cotta plaque as both surface and structure, carving and incising the design directly into the clay before surface-rolling it with black paint. This process allowed the natural warmth of the earthenware to contrast with the bold black, highlighting the linear composition with remarkable clarity.

Unlike traditional ceramics, which often focused on functionality or decorative refinement, Picasso treated ceramics as a medium for modern artistic invention, fusing aspects of painting, drawing, and sculpture. His collaboration with the Madoura pottery studio in Vallauris opened the door to unprecedented experimentation, resulting in over 600 original ceramic designs that remain some of his most innovative and collectible works.

Grand Tête de Femme au Chapeau Orné reflects Picasso’s lifelong dialogue with his muses, who inspired not only portraits but also reinventions of form itself. The female face here is both iconic and enigmatic: a symbol of strength, beauty, and artistic possibility. By placing his muse on a terra cotta plaque, Picasso elevates a humble medium to the realm of fine art, bridging the gap between ancient tradition and modern innovation.

The work also underscores Picasso’s ability to synthesize cultures and histories—recalling ancient Mediterranean ceramics, Iberian masks, and modernist abstraction—into a unified visual language. The combination of ornamental hat and bold features speaks to both femininity and monumentality, positioning the muse as timeless and archetypal.

Grand Tête de Femme au Chapeau Orné (Ramié 518), 1964, is a ceramic plaque by Pablo Picasso, created in terra cotta and surface-rolled with black paint. The work depicts a stylized female head crowned with an ornate hat of floral motifs, rendered in bold incised lines that reveal the warm earthenware beneath. Exemplifying Picasso’s mastery of ceramics and his fascination with female muses, the piece transforms a traditional medium into a powerful modernist statement, uniting sculptural presence with graphic intensity.