Product Description
Maurice Bouval French Art Nouveau Nymph Silvered Bronze Candleholder c. 1900
MAURICE BOUVAL (born Toulouse, died 1920) France
M. COLIN France
“Nymph Embracing a Blossom” candle holder c.1900
Silvered cast bronze in the form of a nymph on a leaf embracing a blossom
Marks: M. Bouval (script signature) and COLIN, (Foundry) written above
For other examples of Bouval’s work see: The Paris Salons 1895-1914, Vol. V: Objets d’Art & Metalware, Alastair Duncan (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1999), p. 127; Ecole to Deco, Small Sculptures from a Private Collection, Stephen C. McGough ed. (Oberlin, Ohio: Allen Memorial Art Museum, 1979) pp. 33-4; Art Nouveau Sculpture, Alastair Duncan (New York: Rizzoli, 1978) pp. 30-1.
H: 3″ x W: 6 1/2″ x D: 4 3/4″
Maurice Bouval French Art Nouveau Nymph Silvered Bronze Candleholder c. 1900
CELLINI-CRAFT Evanston, Ill
Grand “Argental” center piece bowl c. 1934
Hand wrought and hand hammered aluminum in a curvacious ovoid form with applied curlique handles.
Marks: ARGENTAL, XXX, HANDWROUGHT
H: 3 1/4″ x D: 13 3/4″ x L: 21″
CELLINI CRAFT was founded by Walter Gerlach & Hans Gregg in 1914.
The company created jewelry and tableware and was noted for their use of aluminum alloy “Argental.” In 1957 Cellini Craft was purchased by Julius Randahl. In 1965 the patterns and rights to “Argental” were sold to Reed & Barton.
An immigrant’s son, who grew up in the tenements of New York’s Lower East Side, Seaman Schepps rose to prominence in the 1930s with jewelry designs that challenged the status quo and defined a new style for the American woman. With his chunky brooches, “barbaric” bracelets and “bubble” earrings, Schepps pioneered a unique style of jewelry whose sense of splendor offered a new perspective to the world of fine jewelry.
Witty, over-the-top and flattering, Schepps’ jewelry embodied style and originality and was featured on the covers of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Look and other magazines. It appealed to a myriad of clients from Katherine Hepburn to Andy Warhol to the Duchess of Windsor and greatly influenced his contemporaries. Today, some 50 years after his death, he continues to inspire modern jewelers.
Through the 1930s, and into the 40s and 50s, new clients flocked to him at his store on Madison Avenue. Often clients wanted a one-of-a-kind bauble and commissioned Schepps to incorporate their old jewelry into a fresh new design. Frequently this led to landmark decisions that helped distinguish Schepps as an extraordinary talent. His client list included Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, the Duchess of Windsor, and members of the Du Pont, Mellon and Rockefeller families. By serving these most powerful and influential individuals, Schepps became known as “America’s Court Jeweler”.