Pierre-Emile Legrain (attr.) Pair of French Art Deco drop and roll front cabinets c. 1927
PIERRE-EMILE LEGRAIN attr. (1889-1929) France
Matching Cabinets (pair) c. 1927
Golden cerused oak, roll-front and drop front doors,
original brass keys, reeded base
Provenance: Felix Marcilhac, Paris
For more information on Legrain see: Pierre-Emile Legrain 1889-1929 (Paris: exh. cat. Galerie Jacques de Vos,1996); Union des Artistes Modernes, Arlette Barré-Despond (Paris: Editions du Regard, 1986) 119-120.
H: 50 1/2 ” x W: 23 1/2” x D: 11 1/2”
The Art Deco movement centered in early 20th-century Paris sought to bridge the transition from academic art and craftsmanship to modern art and industrial production. Regarded by some as one of its founders, Pierre-Emile Legrain (1889-1929) worked at a time of great ferment in art, as well as in society. Legrain’s curiosity and receptiveness to these changes led him to adapt forms, materials and techniques from other cultures.
Legrain created two distinct bodies of work: an assemblage of approximately 1,200 bookbinding designs and a much smaller production of furniture made for couturiers in the French fashion trade. Both artistic endeavors shared fine craftsmanship, masterful use of rare and expensive materials, unusual combinations of textures and surfaces, and spare, geometrical forms. Nearly all of his creations were one-of-a-kind.
Marcel Bouraine, Pair of French Art Deco “Dove” Bookends c. 1930
Marcel Bouraine (active 1925-1930) France.
Pair of Art Deco “Dove” sculptural bookends, circa 1930.
Silvered bronze (sand cast technique) in the form of doves with openly displayed and fan shaped tail feathers perched on roof pan tiles.
Marks: Bouraine (2x), #’s 52 and 53.
For more information and other works by Bouraine see: Les Echoes D’Art (May 1927), p. 21; Art Deco Sculpture, Bryan Catley; The Art Deco Style, Selected by Theodore Menten (New York: Dover Publications, 1972), p. 172; Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, E. Bénézit, vol. 2 (Paris: Librarie Grund, 1976), p. 231, An Encylopedia of Art Deco, Edited by Alastair Duncan (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1988) pp. 26,28-29,31,104; Art Deco, Victor Arwas (New York, Harry Abrams,1980) pp. 163, 269.
@hd_jewels