A stunning and large French Sèvres pottery blue glazed ceramic centerpiece by Paul Jean Milet, son of Felix Optatus Milet. Optat Milet began his career as a modeler for Sèvres in 1862, and opened his own ceramics factory in 1866. His son Paul Jean Milet took over operations shortly before the turn of the century. The shallow octagonal shaped dish centerpiece features a stunning blue glaze. Mounted in a patinated wrought iron base and is applied with flowering roses with stylized wing shape handles extending to either side of the ceramic dish. Marked PM for Paul Millet and Sevres, within a dotted circle, this mark was in use circa 1930. Stands 6 3/4" height x 20 5/8" wide across the handles x 9 5/8" deep. In good condition with general wear to the metal mounts. Some scratches in to the glaze on the sides from sliding in and out of the iron stand. Paul Milet, son of Optat Milet, came from a well-defined lineage of potters. Optat Milet began his career as a modeler for Sèvres in 1862, and opened his own ceramics factory in 1866. Paul Milet entered his father's pottery workshop in the town of Sèvres in 1894 and for the next 36 years produced high-quality ceramics sold through Parisian shops and interior decorators. Because his aesthetic preferences kept pace with the fashions of the era, his early works favoured the floral and whiplash ornamentation associated with the Art Nouveau movement. By comparison, his later work is serene yet streamlined, with simple forms flambe glazed in high-contrast bold jazz-age colors indicative of the Art Deco era.