Art Deco Panther-Piece of the Week

I love the way the French depicted animals in the inter war years, with their tradition of sculptors in the genre.
The noble beast lends itself to a stylised study and in the hands of a good sculptor it is amazing what can be done.
I have chosen a picture of one I currently have that is not too expensive, £300-400 would be a decent price to pay for such.
It is a spelter model, but the base is nice marble and the way it has been inlaid with sections of onyx just gives it a  little extra.
It has a bronze patina and this is everything when purchasing a spelter as a beautiful glow can hint that it is a bronze to most people.
Where do you go with the same equivalent in bronze well its going to set you back a thousand pounds and if it was by my favourite sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti, son of the furniture maker and brother of the car designer then you may be looking at half a million pounds.
This is a nice way to "buy in" to he at deco style. It may be said it is a touch on the masculine style but having sold scores of Art Deco Cats to ladies it seems that the beauty transcends the sexes.
 I don't know anyone could deny the beauty of a strident black leopard stalking its prey or just strident as in this pose.
Tradition:
Le Livre du Jungle  http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Livre_de_la_jungle that was published in France, or as we know it here Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
This animalier style was championed at the Salons and was maybe the continuation of a tradition that Antoine Louis Barye http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine-Louis_Barye came from in the 19th century.

 So you may wonder what a cartoon in the sixties with songs such as the Bear necessities and lyrics such as "I wanna be like you..u..u, dooby doo, dooby doo, have got to do with this sculpture.
Well its my opinion that it is because Le Livre Du Jungle was illustrated by Paul Jouve with his beautiful stylised and characterful depictions of the beasts that Kipling made come to life from his memories in India, and this helped to inspire a generation of artists and sculptors that helped form the vision that made the cartoon come alive. To another generation. It does not disredit Paul Jouve t know that his amazing illustrations of Mowgli  lit up the eyes of Walt Disney for sure.
How now we take it for granted, we know almost every creature that has ever existed, but in the 1920's  you may not know what a Lion or a Tiger looked like.
These exotic creatures were to mesmerise a generation with a novel such as Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan of the Jungle, (it seems like only yesterday, watching the Johnny Weissmuller and seeing the 1960s cartoon on the flics).

Today these artists and sculptors from a tradition of craftsmanship that could not be recreated today, leave an affordable and stylistic legacy to a almost forgotten era.


But in the twenties and thirties you could discover their magnificence only in a zoo, but a sculpture could then be purchased in a posh department store and be placed be pride of place on your mantelpiece..............just as you can today.

Eric Knowles Calls In For A Cuppa.

Its always nice to see Eric, he was in town for a Bonhams valuation day and he popped over for a cuppa. He was quite taken by the strident panther on a marble and onyx base that he is holding in the picture that was taken in my shop today. He always seems so genuinely interested in his stock in trade, the Art Deco period. We had a good natter about the job and where its going, with the new Internet age, and decided we both don't know. But it has opened a lot of new opportunities where a piece can be viewed all round the world within minutes of it being put on line. http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/sculpture.php

Diana The Huntress by Lejan-Piece of the Week.

Sometimes the French craqelle glazed sculptures of the inter war years can be underrated.
This is an amazing piece of movement, it almost looks as if it has been designed in a wind tunnel.
LEJAN did some wonderful sculptures, and some not too good but there is a mystery surrounding the work of the sculptor who may have in fact been a group of sculptors which may go some way to explaining the inconsistency of the work.
I used this sculpture by LEJAN in a exhibition called The Age Of Jazz curated by Sue Lunt at the Walker Art Gallery, to which I was commissioned to put together a room setting.
The signature can be seen on several different craquelles sometimes signed JAN LE, JANLE and I have had a interesting black glazed Panther signed JEAN.
There was a sculpture and a Pate de Verre vase that went through a New York Christies sale in 1990 signed Walter Nancy Le Jan.
Almeric Walter (Sevres1859-1860) was a collaborator with Daum.
Some of the rare pieces have the mark Orchies or Moulin des Loups. There is also a theory that it may have been a woman and it is why the masculine style of some of the sculptures may not have suited being attributed to a lady but needed to be seen in a masculine manner. This piece is some 50cm long signed LEJAN looks as good from several different angles, and is pretty wonderful

Pair of Chairs by George Montague Ellwood-Piece Of The Week

 A pair of exceptional Arts & Crafts side chairs designed by George Montague Ellwood & made by J S Henry.
The single central back splat united by two lower cross stretchers which cleverly emulate the lower twin side stretchers & single side uprights which are united by a higher single cross stretcher with its roundel.
A single variation to this chair with copper inlay sold at Sotheby's London on 22nd Feb 2006, it made £5040 with the buyer's premium that chair was almost identical in form.

George Montague Ellwood (1875-1955) Artist, Designer & Interior Decorator was educated at Holloway Art School & later studied in Paris, Berlin, Dresden & Vienna & at Camden School of Art from 1916 to 1924. In 1897 he won the gold medal for his furniture designs at the National Competition, South Kensington. He was one of the founding members of the 'Guild of Art Craftsmen', comprising the likes of Onslow Whiting (metal & repousse' work) J Osmond (a carver), & Richard Garbe (sculptor).They held regular exhibitions of their works, situated at Camden Square, London.

Some of Ellwood's best work was between 1900-1905/6 when he was the head designer for J S Henry (John Sollie Henry, founded c1880) of Old Street, London.

Ellwood knew how to strengthen a piece of furniture yet retain a lightness of touch that is still surprising in its vision, today.

The simple addition of the upright that connects to an additional internal stretcher gives the chair an architectural strength, yet manages to give the chair an air of lightness.

All this extra work adding to the integral strength in such a way that he was able to create modernism in a Victorian age.

 Other designers such as C F A Voysey, W J Neatby, G Walton, W A S Benson, & E G Punnett whom also supplied designs for J S Henry were tryng hard to encapsulate the same vision.

J S Henry made furniture to their designs in oak, walnut, green stained sycamore & mahogany, often inlaid with fruitwood, pewter & copper depicting stylistic & organic designs. Ellwood's designs for J S Henry were exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exhibition & won a silver medal. He exhibited at a number of venues between 1899 & 1915, including four times at the Royal Academy. He also worked for Bath Cabinetmakers & the Bristol based firm of Trapnell & Gane. Later he traded as Ellwood & Sledmere at 53 Mortimer Street, London. & designed posters for the London Underground Group between 1912 & 1914 now displayed at The Transport Museum.

He became editor of Drawing & Design Journal & in later years continuing his life's work he wrote several books on drawing & design.

Daum Acid Etched Vase-Piece of the Week

Sometimes simplicity is key to good design and Daum were usually quite good at simple art deco designs combined with craftsmanship. This vase is 31cm high.
see glass section of my website; http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/glass.php


Founded in 1878 by Jean Daum[1] (1825–1885).
His sons, Auguste Daum (1853–1909) and Antonin Daum (1864–1931), ran the company during Art Nouveau period.
During the Universal Exhibition of 1900 Daum was awarded a ‘Grand Prix’ medal. Daum glass became more elaborate, acid etching (by Jacques Gruber) was often combined with carving, enamelling and engraving on a single piece of glass to produce creative glass master-pieces.
Daum creations also feature applied glass elements, such as handles and ornamental motifs in naturalistic forms.
The Daum brothers were one of the major forces in the Art Nouveau movement, seriously rivalling Gallé, so much so that when Émile Gallé died in 1904 they became the leaders in the field of decorative glass.
In 1906 Daum revived pâte de verre (glass paste), an ancient Egyptian method of glass casting, developing the method so that by the 1930s Daum's window panels used pâte de verre for richness instead of leaded or painted glass.

Daum gradually moved into the Art Deco period. The creations in this new style are some of the best of its period. Glass became a tool with which to create good design and Daum began to use the skills learnt during the Art Nouveau time to move with the times.
On the art deco pieces they produced it can be seen how the craftsmen worked.
Bevels were arranged in cubist form, planes were cut deep into a crystallised or frosted  aspect, leaving parts of a pattern rough and other parts polished. Geometric patterns were arranged and motifs employed that were fresh and vibrant for the jazz age.
Always tactile to hold and feel. The differing textures were copied and imitated but very rarely equalled.
The Exposition International des Art Decoratif et Industrial held in Paris in 1925 gave them an opportunity to show their wares off to buyers all over the word and with the skill of its craftsman the Daum company had years of prosperity leaving us today with some of the finest examples of Art Deco.
They don't come cheap quality never does this one is over £500 but where can you find something with such sophistication for less.

Antique Road Trip-The BBC's David Harper Drops In.

I had just come back from a buying trip in France, my own antique road trip and the BBC dropped in again, to do some more filming. This time for The Antique Road Trip.
The format is pretty well recorded David buys a few bits from me that he then attempts to sell on at a local auction, which unfortunatly may be Cato Crane's, and hopefully make a profit.
 He is a dealer so of corse he will be as hard a negotiator as the rest of us are. I was as helpful as I coul be, but we seemed to get along well enough, I hope he makes a profit on the items he bought from me an goes on to win the challenge. Not sure when the programme will go out hopefully soon. My trip to France meant I ha a lot of new things in the shop www.classicartdeco.co.uk and David was genuinly impressed by the shop. Have look by clicking on the link.

www.classicartdeco.com-I Own this Domain

I had a person calling himself Errol Spence doing some Internet work for me, who took this domain classicartdeco from me without my permission. I do not relinquish ownership of it. He has been trying to sell it on without my permission

I was told he also went under the name of Errol George.
The letter below is self explanatory. Do not attempt to buy it
He took this domain from me registering it at an address  that did not exist 6a Denman Drive Liverpool L6 7UE.
He had registered it at an address that did not exist but had an address at 18h Denman Drive.  He seems connected with a company called Euromatech and Kuzmo.
He used to work in the internet cafe in London Road Liverpool.
There are a lot of people on Ebay who may wish to know his whereabouts.
 Don't let him do any work for you as you may regret it.



WAYNE COLQUHOUN

Antiques and Fine Art
11-13 Holts Arcade
India Buildings
Water Street
LIVERPOOL L2 ORR



www.classicartdeco.co.uk


Waynecolquhoun@gmail.com

Tel: 0151 236 1282
21.6.12

The Managing Director



NameMedia, Inc.

BuyDomains Division

230 Third Avenue

Waltham, MA 02451


WWW.CLASSICARTDECO.COM

I write to inform you that I am the owner of the above website and that it has been directly taken from me by a Errol Spence A.K.A. Errol George.
I advise you that if you attempt to sell this domain this will be illegal.
I am the legal owner and have paperwork to prove it.

I am in contact with my solicitor and legal correspondence will follow.



Wayne Colquhoun

Herculaneum Ship Plate-Piece Of The Week

Liverpool Pottery at the Herculaneum factory in sight of the Mersey Estuary of course had to produce wares portraying ships. They are now quite rare as most of them are in American collections. They were popular at the time with the people who manned the ships and were made as late as 1830. A range of three masted and on occasions two masted vessels were often portrayed. The last ships plate I had was sold to a client whose girlfriend was doing a trip in a tall masted ship. She took part in the ceremony at the crossing of the equator and during that trip she circumnavigated the Cape off the African coast, a perilous journey still. This was a nice touch. I thought a modern take on the exact sentiment that would have seen the plate originally bought in 1805. They often had flags to suit customer preferences (British, American, Dutch and even Danish Flags).

Peter Hyland in his book Liverpool's Forgotten Glory says (pg 58) "Judging by the frequency in which these plates turn up today, they must have been extremely popular and treasured. It is not unusual to find a 'ship plate' which has been broken many years ago and carefully riveted together"       

This one in fact has some very old restoration to the rim. If an object could tell a story what would this plate say.

Has it been to America? And Back? What is the ship printed in the middle and who bought it, was it a sea captain or a sweetheart to give to her loved one when he risked his life on uncharted waters?

Maybe, I will never know for sure, but it really is a piece that sums up 18th century Liverpool, and not just local history but Maritime art. This is now 200 years old. It is a shame the people now running Liverpool museums don't think the same way about our forgotten glory. http://waynecolquhoun.blogspot.com/2009/06/herculaneum-pottery-held-by-liverpool.html

The 'Ship Plates' are a treasure any collection of Liverpool Ceramics without one would be bare.

Lalique Coquilles Bowl-Piece of the Week

Lalique always did simple design well.

Here is a version of a bowl that is often overlooked by Lalique collectors because its not the rarest or the most expensive.

For that reason its a really good way to start off a collection.

Expect to pay a couple of hundred pounds for a small  frosted version and about £3-400 for an opalescent version. 

http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/

René Jules Lalique

René Jules Lalique was born in Ay, Marne, France on April 6, 1860, and died May 5, 1945.
He was a glass designer, renowned for his stunning creations of perfume In 1882 he became a freelance designer for several top jewelry houses in Paris and four years later established his own jewelry workshop. By 1890, Lalique was recognized as one of France's foremost Art Nouveau jewelry designers; creating innovative pieces for Samuel Bing's new Paris shop, La Maison de l'Art Nouveau. He went on to be one of the most famous in his field, his name synonymous with creativity and quality.

In the 1920s he also became famous for his work in the Art Deco style. Among other things he was responsible for the walls of lighted glass and the elegant glass columns which filled the dining room and grand salon of the SS Normandie.

René Lalique is buried in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.

Recognised as one of the world's greatest glass makers and jewellery designers of the art Nouveau and art Deco periods, Rene Jules Lalique was an imaginative and creative artist in all his work. Lalique's early life was spent in many different types of artistic businesses, acting as apprentice and assistant. This heavily influenced the designs he used in his later life, including his emphasis on glass. He used the most modern and innovative manufacturing techniques and equipment available, allowing more than one glass piece to be made at a time while still looking hand made, which meant his quality jewellery was available to the general public.

Rene Jules Lalique's early life was spent learning the methods of design and art he would use in his later life. He was born on the 6th of April, 1860, in the town of Ay, France. At the age of two his family moved to a suburb of Paris due to his fathers work, but travelled to Ay for summer holidays. These trips to Ay influenced Lalique's later naturalistic glasswork. When he was twelve, he entered the Collège Turgot where he started drawing and sketching. With the death of his father two years later, Lalique began working as an apprentice to the goldsmith Louis Aucoq in Paris, and attending evening classes at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. He worked here for two years and then moved to London to attend the Sydenham Art College for two years. At the Sydenham art college, his skills for graphic design were improved, and his naturalistic approach to art was further developed. When he returned from England, he worked as a freelance artist, designing pieces of jewellery for French jewellers. Following this, he opened a business in 1885, and designed and made his own jewellery and other glass pieces for the rest of his life.

Many things influenced Lalique's work, including the natural environment, and the art Nouveau and art Deco periods.. The summer holidays Lalique spent at Ay, in France, and the time he spent at the Sydenham college of Art in London, heavily influenced Lalique's naturalistic work. As a result, many of his jewellery pieces and vases showcase plants, flowers and flowing lines.

Arthur Dooley Bull-Piece of the Week.

 I used to think Arthur Dooley was a bad sculptor......that was until I saw this piece that I had to buy and strong it is.
I then wrote up his biography in simple form and in doing so I began to understand him more.
Born in Liverpool in 1929, Dooley worked as a welder on the Ark Royal.


He was working, tirelessly, around Liverpool, right up until his death in 1994. He was a boxer and once came to blows in the Everyman with Arthur Ballard an art teacher who had taught Stewart Sutcliffe.

He created numerous religious figures in polished bronze using unorthodox techniques and unusual interpretations. The Black Christ on Princes Avenue being one, that went down like a lead balloon.

He buttonholed Hesseltine after the Toxteth Riots and pleaded with him “Don’t let them knock down the Albert Dock”.

His first sculpture was made in an army prison in Egypt where he served a sentence for going AWOL. Conflicting reports, one saying he tried to join the PLO.

Upon his unceremonious return from the army, he joined a drawing class at the Whitechapel gallery in London.

He was then employed as a janitor. His job included clearing up after the sculptors and setting up materials, then he began to make his own work...using scraps of metal left over.

His lead cast piece of a crucified Jesus received a good response around the college. From these humble beginnings, in 1962 he exhibited at St Martins Gallery, a stones throw from the college where he had worked. Cast a bronze bull for London weekend’s south bank building. He met the great art critic Greenberg and made several appearances on the "Tonight" programme. I saw an interview he made with Bill Shankly. He dubbed the new Cathedral Paddy’s Wigwam. He was featured on This is Your Life.

When Henry Moore, overworked turned down the Stations of the Cross at the Benedictine Community of Ampleforth Monastery Dooley took up the commission.

Later he would say the shipyard was really my art school.

Deeply concerned about social problems of his day. He was a member of the communist party. He was always an outspoken and immensely religious letting the materials he worked with speak. His workshop 34-36 Seel Street is intact. It needs preserving.

He was a active member of the Liverpool Academy.
He campaigned to have the right for Liverpool artists to show their wares outside the Bluecoat. He is slowly being recognised as an important man active in town planning not afraid to have his say.


Remember Him.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Dooley


http://www.arthurdooley.org/biography.html

http://www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk/dooley/dooleyarthur.html

His work has been going up at an amazing rate...........it now seems he is trendy something he would have hated I think. It is now not being afforded by the people who deserve his work.
 I also think that some of those buying his work driving his prices up are more likely to be investors who would not know a good sculpture from a bad sculpture. It should not be that someone owns a Dooley, but do they have a good one, because there are many not so good ones out there.
His work can be confused with Brian(I am now a native American Indian) Burges and Sean Rice.
 If you study his work you can feel his influences.
His pupil Stephen Broadbent has mad a fortune churning out Dooley inspired works to undescerning patrons with more money than sense.

The Thonet Rocking Chair. Piece of the Week.

The Thonet Rocking Chair. Its hard to think this design has been around since 1862. No-one seems to know who designed it. It was probably one of the first flat packs of its day, made up of simple bentwood elements that can be easily transported.

This is the first one I have bought and is in excellent condition having been recovered probably in the 1960's. Its not as simple as the later Joseph Hoffman designs but it is simple to equate this method of construction with the way furniture was to be designed by all, with cost of production and ease of assembly in mind.
Mies Van Der Rohe owes a debt of gratitude to Thonet and their pioneering use of beech. Van Deh Rohe would employ the use of simple shapes and use he strength of steel to design cantilevered shapes.


Beech is a tight grained timber that allowed the steaming of the wood and the immediate bending into shapes, that must have astounded when first retailed.
Or maybe they were criticised taking away the skill of the cabinet makers art. But what is in no doubt is that it helped make furniture affordable for the mass market.
 
http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/furniture.php

Eric Knowles Calls In To Film "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is".

As part of filming for the BBC2 programme 

"Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" Eric Knowles called in to do some filming.

I have not seen Eric for some time, well since he did the opening speech for the "Age of Jazz" an exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, that I was commissioned to construct a room setting for by Sue Lunt who curated it.

The programme goes out on Wednesday 18th April at 5.15 pm.
Here we are stopping for a chat during the brief period of the recent filming at my shop.
We were joking about the mileage we have to cover in this job, just to get the goods, then again to sell them.
I pulled his leg a bit about the velvet cushioned world of BBC's Antique Roadshow against the cut and thrust of reality. He has a sense of humour and it was all good fun. Hope I have not "Put my foot where my mouth is" It's a bit of fun and its right to take it in that spirit.