Calouste Gulbenkian was the oil entrepreneur who opened up commerce from the Middle East to the West. He also had a 50-year friendship with Rene Lalique and obtained pieces directly from the artist. His art collection numbered over 6000 pieces, to which a museum in his name was built in Lisbon.
This comb depicts leaves in horn, from which emerge pink enameled flowers with black stamens.
I cannot believe there is a Lalique comb that hasn’t been featured on this blog. ;-P This one is “Drone with Umbels,” c. 1901-2. It is made from carved horn, gold, and enamel. An umbel is a flower consisting of a series of short stalks with small blooms, such as Queen Anne’s Lace.
This art nouveau barrette was made by the company who pioneered electroplating silver onto copper in 1840s Birmingham England. E&C marks are on the back. This art nouveau barrette was made c. 1900. Two women’s faces, one sad, one happy, metamorphosize out of grape vines, and are separated by a fleur de lis figure. In a beautiful triangular shape, I photographed it on gradations of grey.
From the Creative Museum
This elegant painted horn comb touches those who have Lalique hearts. Even though the design is layered, the transparency allows light to shine through the comb, perfectly expressing a dragonfly in real life.
Par le Musée Creative
L’Art nouveau est un mouvement artistique qui naît en Europe à la fin du XIXe siècle et rencontre un succès immédiat. Il se développe même internationalement et prend des noms différents selon les pays qui l’adoptent: Tiffany aux Etats-Unis, Skonvirke au Danemark, Stile Liberty en Italie, etc…Le terme français « Art nouveau » s’est imposé en France et même en Grande-Bretagne.
Ce style s’appuie essentiellement sur l’esthétique des lignes courbes. Ses thèmes de prédilection sont la nature, la femme et la mythologie. De grands artistes comme René Lalique ou Lucien Gaillard ont créé des ornements de coiffures somptueux, très recherchés aujourd’hui. Plus modestement, de nombreux artisans français se sont inspirés de leurs créations et ont façonné des peignes ou des épingles au design très poétique. L’ornement de coiffure Art Nouveau français est le plus souvent en corne claire que l’on peint pour imiter la nature. Il est parfois embelli de pierres, de perles ou de métal précieux comme l’or ou l’argent.
Creative Museum possède une collection exceptionnelle d’ornements de coiffure Art Nouveau. Pour ceux qui veulent en savoir plus, ne manquez pas en septembre prochain, notre prochaine exposition qui sera entièrement consacrée à ce style. Voici quelques pièces à admirer en avant-première.
(You may read the English translation in the first comment.)
French painted horn comb with a cicada
French horn comb, ginko pattern. Silver, rhinestones, green cabochon
French horn comb with silver female profile
French hair slide, painted horn, flower design
Copyright: www.creative-museum.com
Art Nouveau’s dedication to the natural world ignited European artists from 1890 – 1905. However, brilliant design has many faces, among them fashion still worn today. In the book, Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa, author Hans Sylvester reveals a fashion revolution in design thinking: Art Nouveau and Art Deco meld into a single concept as plants and bold natural colors decorate the body and face. John Paul Gaultier, take notice. What the Surma and Mursi tribes of East Africa’s Omo Valley have created is worthy of the most elite haute couture runways.
The only mark on it is Sterling, but this beautiful hair pin depicts two Gingko leaves with a bug. It’s made with cloisonne enamel. The colors are gorgeous. It seems very Japonisme to me, so I don’t know if the maker was French or Japanese, but it sold for $275 on September 16. Congratulations to the winner.
My first piece today is actually a British arts and crafts piece by Arthur and Georgie Gaskin, c. 1910. The raised silver-foliage design is bookmarked by pearls. Provenance: Arthur & Georgie Gaskin, City Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, 1982, page 87.
This is a spectacular art nouveau diadem of a Byzantine princess. It is French; made of gold, opal, and diamonds; c.1900. Unmarked, it is attributed to Fouquet or Vever.
This is an original Lalique drawing of a comb with two Japanese rhinoceros beetles fighting each other (Thank you to member ch for making this correction). The comb was probably to be made out of horn. Maybe the fighting rhinoceros beetles and their feet, performing the engineering function of holding the chains, would be silver, and the jewels in the dangles would be pearls. What a knockout.
My last piece for this morning is a Lalique pendant, whose centerpiece can easily be taken off and worn in the hair. This piece is so gorgeous, it takes my breath away. The ornament depicts poppies made of glass, enamel, and gold.
First up today is a 19th Century Portuguese tiara made of gold metal, sapphires, and baroque pearls, c. 1840. It sold for $1100.
We continue with a French blonde tortoiseshell back comb, c. 1890. The center ornament is a blue and white cameo of angels posing as the three muses. It is encased with diamonds. On each side are pearls separated by two gold leaves with a diamond in the center, and side blue enamel plaques with diamond roses. It sold for $3200.
Our last comb is by George Fouquet. The scrolled top of this blonde tortoiseshell comb is bordered with diamonds, and graced with opal leaves on both sides. Calibré-cut amethysts, three diamonds and a gold leaf reside in the middle. The piece is signed G.Fouquet and sold for $11,176.
First, Rene made a simple horn comb. Then he attached a gold medallion with inlaid mother-of-pearl clovers. He elongated the horn on the top-right to frame a real peacock feather. To hold the feather in place, he carved and attached a magnificent gold bird, with its royal plumage of peacock feathers carved in gold flowing over the tines. What a beautiful idea of both art and engineering. c. 1902-1903.
Another peacock dream Rene had was this pectoral. Usually associated with ancient Egypt as a medallion attached to a necklace, or a brooch, I think this piece could easily function as a barrette. Using the Symbolist philosophy of Art Nouveau, the peacock and its feathers are done in blue and green enamel accompanied by randomly set cabachon opals. Diamonds bookmark the piece. c. 1902-1903.
