The present work bears the signs of Picasso’s intrepid creativity, when after the Second World War he turned to ceramics, transferring the whimsical world of his pictures and sculptures onto the shapes and vessels of Provençal pottery. Picasso had first visited the Madoura Pottery studio in Vallauris in 1946, invited by Georges and Suzanne Ramié. The pottery-making history of Vallauris went back to the Roman times, when the area was an important center of amphorae production; in the 18th century, Vallauris revived its ancient fame with the production of kitchen earthenware. In Gros oiseau, Picasso has manipulated the form of the classical hydria, capitalizing on its ability to resemble a bird. Shifting the relation of forms, and decreasing the bird’s characteristics to a minimum, Picasso exhibits his talent in capturing character with only a few distilled lines. Using the swell of the body of the vase to depict the bird’s breast and the curve of the handles to portray the spread of wings, highlighted with a few spots of red pigment to delineate feathers, Picasso succeeds in conveying the sense of the oiseau, while enhancing the craftsmanship and utility of the piece, by emblazing his signature across the front of the piece.