Picasso is the first artist to create an important ceramic work in the 20th century. After he settles down permanently in the South of France in 1947, Picasso meets and starts collaborating with Suzanne Ramié of the Madoura Studio in Vallauris. Their collaboration will span almost 25 years, up until Picasso's death. Afterwards, artists such as Joan Miro, Marc Chagall or Victor Brauner will follow suit with their own ceramic productions in Vallauris.

What most characterizes Picasso's ceramic production is the marriage of form and fuction, taking objects of everyday life such as plates, pitchers or vases and turning them into artistic objects. He uses the functional form in order to create the subject : the head of the horse on the neck of the pitcher, the cavalier in the front, the landscape on the opposite side... The artist's renewed ties with the Mediterranean inspire Picasso to return to the subjects of his Spanish culture, such as this pitcher.