Gabriel Argy-Rousseau Pâte de Verre "Murènes" Night Light
Regular price
$11,500
Argy-Rousseau's near-unique ability to gracefully soften the starkness of Art Deco design without ever sacrificing the strength of the design is on full display in this remarkable, petite masterpiece. The Murènes (Moray Eel) Nightlight by Argy Rousseau drew inspiration from the eel illustrations found in Comte de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle. Comte de Buffon achieved recognition at the Louis XVI court for his comprehensive work, Histoire naturelle, which provided visual insights into the vast realm of the natural world, encompassing everything from plants and animals to minerals. In the 1860s, the exploration of new deep-sea species, facilitated by the expansion of underwater telegraphic cables across Europe, ignited the creativity of artists and captivated the general public's imagination. Jules Verne's 1870 novel, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," further enthralled the French populace, resulting in the emergence of deep-sea-themed exhibits at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle. Specifically, the Moray eel became a symbol of concealed threats lurking beneath the facade of security.
Item #: YEL-21256
Artist: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau
Country: France
Circa: 1929
Dimensions: 5.7 width, 6.5 height, 2.6 depth
Materials: Pâte de verre, translucent glass, Wrought Iron
Signed: “G. Argy-Rousseau” and “France”
Literature: Janine Bloch-Dermant, G. Argy-Rousseau, Catalogue Raisonné, London 1990, no. 30.12
Item #: YEL-21256
Artist: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau
Country: France
Circa: 1929
Dimensions: 5.7 width, 6.5 height, 2.6 depth
Materials: Pâte de verre, translucent glass, Wrought Iron
Signed: “G. Argy-Rousseau” and “France”
Literature: Janine Bloch-Dermant, G. Argy-Rousseau, Catalogue Raisonné, London 1990, no. 30.12
Gabriel Rousseau adopted the suffix 'Argy' in honor of his wife Marianne Argyriadès. She was his best friend's sister. They all shared a love of Greco-Roman and Egyptian antiquity. Argy-Rousseau was interested in many things, studied at the École de Sèvres, but also completed an engineering degree. Throughout his life, he conducted research in areas as diverse as dental porcelain and color photography. In his private life he always surrounded himself with creative personalities, including Henri Cros, who had long been known for his glass works using the 'pâte-de-verre' technique. Argy-Rousseau began to work successfully with the material even before the First World War, after the war he founded a glass factory that had 20 employees at its peak. He developed his own technique for producing his ideas: Argy-Rousseau first modeled his sketched idea in plaster, which was then covered with wax. A refractory hollow mold consisting of several parts was then molded from this model in several work steps. He even produced his own glass. It was crushed into powder and colored by the addition of metal oxides. With the help of fine brushes, the now liquid glass mass, which had been washed several times, was applied precisely to the walls of the refractory mould. Two more layers followed, one after the other, to create strength and at the same time prevent air bubbles from forming. The last layer was resin to further fix the pate de verre. The model was then placed upside down in a wood-fired oven, where the piece was then fired at high temperatures. After cooling, the mold was removed, the now solid object cleaned with acid and the last bumps polished off with a wheel. This is how these wonderful, transparent, at the same time colorful, delicate-looking objects came into being.
Gabriel Rousseau adopted the suffix 'Argy' in honor of his wife Marianne Argyriadès. She was his best friend's sister. They all shared a love of Greco-Roman and Egyptian antiquity. Argy-Rousseau was interested in many things, studied at the École de Sèvres, but also completed an engineering degree. Throughout his life, he conducted research in areas as diverse as dental porcelain and color photography. In his private life he always surrounded himself with creative personalities, including Henri Cros, who had long been known for his glass works using the 'pâte-de-verre' technique. Argy-Rousseau began to work successfully with the material even before the First World War, after the war he founded a glass factory that had 20 employees at its peak. He developed his own technique for producing his ideas: Argy-Rousseau first modeled his sketched idea in plaster, which was then covered with wax. A refractory hollow mold consisting of several parts was then molded from this model in several work steps. He even produced his own glass. It was crushed into powder and colored by the addition of metal oxides. With the help of fine brushes, the now liquid glass mass, which had been washed several times, was applied precisely to the walls of the refractory mould. Two more layers followed, one after the other, to create strength and at the same time prevent air bubbles from forming. The last layer was resin to further fix the pate de verre. The model was then placed upside down in a wood-fired oven, where the piece was then fired at high temperatures. After cooling, the mold was removed, the now solid object cleaned with acid and the last bumps polished off with a wheel. This is how these wonderful, transparent, at the same time colorful, delicate-looking objects came into being.
