Nancy - Daum Glass in the Musée des Beaux-Arts

Vase aux hirondelles 1897

Lillian :  As promised in our last post, in this one we will show you some of the utterly gorgeous Daum glass-ware in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy. 
Audrey :  Apparently Nancy's Museum of Fine Arts is one of the oldest museums in France.  It is in one of the lovely buildings around the edge of the Place Stanislas.  But more about that in another post - this one is all about their wonderful collection of Daum Glass.


Lillian :  The Daum Studio is still making beautiful things from glass, and is still based in Nancy.  The company was founded in 1878 by Jean Daum and his sons Auguste and Antonin were very active in the Art Nouveau movement and l'Ecole de Nancy.

Audrey :  That lovely tall vase has sweet little birdies flying around it - we call those birds Swallows, the French name is l'hirondelle - and you don't pronounce the H.

Lillian :   I'll attempt to translate the label for this vase - "blown glass mold, acid etched, enhanced with painting in enamel and gold".

Audrey :  That sounds very complicated and extremely clever.  Let's see more lovely Art Nouveau glass vases - this one with wasps and daisies is similar in shape and colour to the one with the birdies.





Lillian :   We forgot to note what the label said about this dragonfly vase - but the body of the  dragonfly looks as if it were applied, and that mottled, dappled look is usually made by sprinkling powdered material onto the hot glass. 




Audrey :  I've looked up the French word for the dragonfly - la libellule.  Those Art Nouveau artists liked their insects, like this cicada or la cigale.

Cruche aux épis de blé et à la cigale 1905

Lillian :  That beautiful ewer made us think of the Summer time; with its ears of wheat, delphiniums, poppies and that blue cicada.  From the label ... "mold blown glass, multilayer, acid etched, painting with enamel, enhanced with gold and applications".


Audrey :   Multilayer?

Lillian :  Hmm, we'll I'm no expert but sometimes they used several layers of glass in different colours and then they could etch back to reveal the colours underneath. 

I think this vase with narcissus is made with multiple layers of glass that were then etched.   


Perhaps this tiger-lily vase too ...





The Daum brothers were very clever - they won a 'Grand Prix' at l'Exposition universelle de Paris, 1900.  They also collaborated with, and employed other talented artists including Jacques Gruber, Henri Bergé and Amalric Walter.

Amalric Walter is most associated with the pâte de verre (glass paste) process,  a revival of an ancient Egyptian technique.  Daum still use pâte de verre to make some of their pieces.

Audrey :  That's a bit mind-boggling - using such an ancient technique ...

Lillian : Well, when you think about it, making glass is basically the same today as it was in ancient times ... you take silica (quartz sand), add a few things to it such as lime (from limestone) and potash and then you super-heat it until it melts.  The Alsace/Lorraine region has produced glass-ware for centuries - perhaps because the area had (still has) plentiful forests, water and very white (so not many impurities) limestone and sand.  Baccarat crystal is another glass-maker still in production and Baccarat is just to the South-East of Lorraine.

Let's see more flowers -  tulips, 

Crocuses and Cœur de Jeannette ...

Vase aux Cœur de Jeannette 1910

Audrey :  Oh!   that's the flower that we found in Avallon - we hadn't seen it before.  The English call this flower 'Dutchman's trousers' but I think I prefer the name - Heart of Jeannette.

Audrey :  This was my favourite vase - Red Poppies.  (you can see the other side in the photo of the Tiger-lily vase above)

Vase aux pavots rouges 1923

Lillian :  Translating the label for the lovely poppy vase ... "mold blown glass, multilayer, acid etched ... hammered"  this vase has a metal base ... 
Audrey :  Excuse me - you said it was "hammered" ?   But this is glass, you can't go about hitting beautiful glass vases with a hammer! 
Lillian :  Well, perhaps the glass is still hot and not quite hardened when they do it ... if you look closely there is a dimpled effect in the glass. 
Audrey : I wonder how many lovely things didn't quite make it through all the processes and techniques they used in order to make one vase.

Lillian :  Well, here are some examples of another technique that the Daum Frères used to great effect - application of glass 'bubbles' and 'dribbles'.



Audrey :  Very different styles there - the 'grape' vase is earlier than the others.





Lillian :  Yes - and here are some very Art Deco pieces ...

Lampe rectangulaire 1930

This tall vase is encased in metalwork.  The yellow lamp is mold-blown and engraved with acid. 

Audrey : That yellow looks almost edible.










Lillian :  The colour, clarity and sparkle of this mid-century vase was amazing.
 







Audrey :  This bowl is quite recent - 1987 - and the cactus (it looks like prickly pear Opuntia)  is made with the pâte de verre technique.

 

Lillian :  Our last photo for this post is a close up of an Art Nouveau, bowl.  Beautifully decorated with toadstools. 

 

 Audrey :  In our next post we'll be exploring some of the other things in Nancy's Musée des Beaux-Arts.

Nancy - more architectural delights in Saurupt

Lillian :  In our last we showed you lots of photos of the splendid Art Nouveau homes in Saurupt.  This suburb of Nancy was originally planned as a rather exclusive almost "gated community" of beautiful villas designed by members of the École de Nancy.

It didn't quite work out and only 6 such villas were built in 6 years - most of the town-houses and homes in the area were built later and some are delightful examples of the Art Deco style.  Our people are very fond of architectural detail - so they took plenty of photos.

Audrey :  This house was my favourite - "Villa des Colombes" (doves)  it has everything - balconies, lead-light windows, a great garden and the sweetest tower, straight out of a fairy-tale!

Lillian :  In the complex layout - with the tower and that really complicated roof, this villa is very like the École de Nancy (Art Nouveau) ones we showed in the last post.  

However, the decoration is very Art Deco.  We tend to think of the 2 "Art" styles as quite separate but in fashion & architecture (perhaps in other areas too) they sometimes blend, one into the other.
 





  Audrey : Lots of Colombes on the gorgeous tower -

Quite Art Deco

And see the pair of love doves in the ironwork balustrade on the balcony?

 

  

Audrey :  We saw this Art Deco bird balcony on another home -

 and can you see the birdies in this lovely lead-light window?

 

  

Lillian :  Here is some coloured glass-work & iron work together - a lovely Art Deco entrance door.

 

Audrey :  And another, from another building -

it was quite imposing with pillars and lots of Art Deco detailing.

 

Lillian :  The ironwork had curly clouds and lots of strong angles.

Masonry detailing included massed flowers under the balconies and... 

 Some very Art Deco motifs on the corner tower.

Here is the "signature" on this building -  Masson 1930.

  
Audrey :  Monsieur Masson must've been busy, we found his name on lots of buildings.  This is dated 1928 with a popular motif of pine cones.






Lillian : Ah - Charles Masson, he was the brother-in-law of Eugène Corbin.  Remember that amazing Salle a manger (dining room) in the Museum?  {some photos in this post} well, it was designed for & Monsieur Masson's own home.

Audrey : All those creative people in Nancy knew each other & worked for and with each other.  What can we find out about this busy Architect?  Monsieur Pain, I mean, was he one?

Lillian :  Now don't be naughty "pain" is not the same word in French.

Audrey :  I know, it means "bread"  (very strange if you ask me!)  Tell us about Mr Bread.

Lillian :  {sigh}  César Pain, best known for a row of houses along Rue Felix-Faure. Les Clematites and La Tatiana are decorated with pretty, floral Art Nouveau sgraffito.  We found his name on this building 

 

Decorated with ceramic tiles in a 'piano key' design ... and we found this on several homes.

 

Audrey :  Lovely window and is that some fading sgraffito under the eaves?
 
Lillian :  Let's see more architectural curves ...  A wonderful doorway in the shape of a Capital P
 

 





and here is a short round tower ...
 







Audrey :  Can you see the wonderful little waterspout?  Here it is in close-up

Lillian :  Our last building from Saurupt must have been built as a Chemist's

The lovely doorway (shuttered on the Sunday we were there) flanked by foxgloves.

 

Audrey :  Any reason for the foxgloves?  apart from their being really pretty and tall - so they fit that space very well. 

 

Lillian :  Well, perhaps the botanical name gives you a hint, Digitalis.  The digitalin heart medicines were made from foxglove plants.

 Lillian :  In our next post I think we'll move away from architectural details, what do you think Audrey?
Audrey :  Good idea, we haven't posted any photos of us dollies for a long time. 

Leaving Versailles

Lillian :  We had two wonderful days exploring the grounds of the Chateau de Versailles ... wonderful but rather tiring.
Audrey :  So much walking and seeing so many beautiful things ...
Lillian :  Just outside the beautiful gilded gates there is a large statue of Louis XIV on a horse pointing the way.
Audrey :  He seems to be saying "Go on tourists, time to go home, that's the way, down that road, hurry up now..." 

Lillian :  Our stylist loved all the lavish details ... the plumes, his ringlets, the brocade fabric, those intricate sleeves, the sash, the bucket-top boots...

Audrey : The horsey even has a lovely bow on his tail!!



Lillian : Here are some pictures from the front of the statue - cravat, gauntlet gloves and insignia on his breast ... it looks like the Ordre du Saint-Esprit. 
According to the web-site we've linked to there - the sash that went with this order was blue (hence the expression "cordon bleu" to mean something of first class).

Audrey :  The horse looks friendly but King Louis looks quite grumpy - I think he would like all the tourists to leave so he can have his Palace back!

Lillian : Talking about horses - directly outside the palace gates, on either side of the road Louis XIV is pointing down - there are magnificent stables.  Designed by Mansart to house the king's 600 horses.

Audrey :  600 horses !   No wonder the plants in the palace gardens grow so well!

Lillian :  The lovely horses are very appropriate but we weren't quite sure why, in one of the courtyards, there is a lovely statue of a sad, rather cold lady.

Audrey : Poor girl, she is lovely but she needs more than a pashmina to keep her warm.

Lillian : Our hotel room was nice and warm - we were very glad to be able to put our feet up that evening!

Lillian : The next morning we had time to take a few snaps on our way to the train station.  Versailles is a very pretty town with some lovely buildings outside the Palace grounds - as well as inside.






Lillian : Look at those irises - glazed ceramic tiles I think.

Audrey : We have some photos of from our first evening in Versailles - details from the facades of buildings.  Apartments with Art Deco decoration....

 And what might have been a dairy, or cafe perhaps.   Wonderful Art Nouveau - it is now a creche.  What does the sign say Lillian?

Lillian :  It translates to something like "Drop of Milk".   Here is a close-up of those tiles and the rustic/rough pebble surface of the wall -




The creche is run by the Council - and this is the Town Hall - or Hotel de Ville.  Liberté, égalité, fraternité.

Audrey :  Oh - is "Hotel de Ville" like "Town Hall"?   I thought they were weally weally bad / vile hotels.

Lillian : Oh Audrey, you are funny.   This is the market - quite wonderful - an open-air square with L-shaped halls on each side. 

Audrey : So much wonderful food ... and lots of cheese!

Well, we had to take about 3 trains that day but it all went quite smoothly.  

Lillian : Traveling by train is so easy in France and you get to see the lovely country-side out the window ...

Not sure where exactly this was -  somewhere in Bourgogne.

Audrey :  No wonder the food is great - look at the lushness of this country.  The grass is so green!

 This was quite close to our destination ... Avallon.