Sharles

Chorus Line

1993

Golden Dragonfly Lobster Claw Vessel by Sharles Bronze, signed and numbered Artist Proof 7x10x9" This particular casting is available on the secondary...

Daffodil Candlestick by Sharles Functional Art, chromed bronze, 2 x 4 x 4" ed 10/30 This particular casting is available on the secondary market from its original owner. It is in excellent condition, sold as pictured. ​ About the Artist: "Sharles was born in in Italy of American parents on their honeymoon while visiting European relatives. The family was forced to sit out the war in Britain, and when the war ended, traveled home. But the transition to post-war United States was not an easy one. His parents divorced, leaving a 5 year-old Sharles to be raised by various relatives in a sparse ranching/farm environment of Colorado and Wyoming. This early childhood led Sharles to believe he was born in that rural area for most of his adult life. His parents wanted to forget, and erase all memories of the war experiences and lacking the long lost Italian birth papers enrolled him in school via borrowed creditials and name of a near cousin. Art collectors, artists, friends, and the world, only know him today by his signature and professional art name of “SHARLES”. At the age of 10, his Boston grandmother removed him from the Midwest, not wanting her grandson to become a cowboy. She was a stylish, sophisticated widow, self-made businesswoman who was a very successful art and antique dealer to wealthy East Coast collectors. Sharles spent his teens immersed in the totally different world of Boston and foreign travel, art museums, and his grandmother’s art business. He assisted his grandmother in her antique store, and on buying trips to India, France, Italy, China, and Japan. In addition to his own cultural heritage of English, French, and Italian art, he was immersed in many other cultures and educated about the antiques and decorative arts associated with his grandmother’s business. His grandmother was a passionate collector of art and loved flowers. These were common interests shared with her best friend, Grace Wedgwood who was related to the famous English Wedgwood pottery family. Grace Wedgwood was Sharles’ Godmother. These two loving guardians took an active role in his education, privately tutoring him on trains, ocean liners, and in hotel rooms. Sharles received a rare education in the techniques, forms, and artistic values of the decorative arts that were intrinsic to the famed Wedgwood pottery. Both his grandmother and godmother were dedicated collectors of Wedgwood, oriental bronzes, porcelains, flower paintings, Italian and French art. These experiences constituted a rich and enduring art education that in time were major influences in his art. The daily contact with art and flowers became embed in Sharles’ physic, and would later come to his aid and ultimate rescue. In 1982 he suffered a serious car accident in Loveland, Colorado, a small farming community. Left as a semi-invalid with almost total amnesia, Sharles struggled to recover. He was stranded, not knowing his past, home, or friends. While recovering in Loveland, which had a small bronze foundry, Sharles began observing some of the local sculptors, George Lundeen, Fritz White, Danny Ostermiller, Glenna Goodacre, and Kent Ullberg. He gradually began picking up sculpting techniques and learned the casting process. At first, Sharles created the images that were being produced by the other local artists: Indians, eagles, buffaloes, and other western genre. But one auspicious day while sculpting, Sharles surrendered to the intense pressures of his unremembered past. His subconscious adoration of flowers, plants and nature, so strongly instilled by his deceased grandmother, became dominant themes. These memories were his inspiration in creating functional and decorative arts as he discarded the local, popular art trends. Not knowing if it could even be done, Sharles began experimenting with creating iris flowers in soft wax. He attempted to sculpt delicate flower shapes with wet clay techniques, as the Wedgwood potters had done. Sharles attached these flowers to functional forms, creating extraordinary floral vases, candlesticks, elaborate candelabras, bowls and other types of vessels. The inspiration of his sculptural style remained a mystery to Sharles for many years as it had all flowed so effortlessly from his mind through his hands. The bronzes were finished with patinas that were bright natural colors of greens, golds, pinks, and purples that seemed to surprise and even shock the art world. So much so, that major galleries were reluctant to show them, having no sales record by which to judge them. After all, their collectors were buying classic wildlife and Western art in the customary French-brown patinas. For three years, Sharles continued to add to his decorative portfolio, waiting for the right gallery to represent him. Finally, Pam Driscoll, of the Driscoll Gallery, saw this new work, and with hesitation, agreed to show four or five pieces in her gallery. She was astonished when all five bronzes sold as they were being unpacked. Word spread of the immediate sales in Driscoll Gallery, and Sharles soon had more galleries contacting him for his floral decorative work than he could handle. In 1987 Sharles was accepted into the 3rd Annual Loveland Sculpture in the Park Show. It was a small event organized by local peer artist, George Lundeen, Dan Ostermiller, George Walbye, Fritz White, and Hollis Wilford. It has since become the most important national sculpture show in the United States. For 23 years, Sharles has participated in this annual juried show of nationally, celebrated sculptors. In 1990, Sharles was one of the many highly talented sculptors from Loveland invited to participate in the Continental Airline’s Sculpture Showcase. It was a show that would tour the major international airports across the United States for three years. This event exhibited the top sculptors from Loveland: Kent Ullberg, George Lundeen, Fritz White, Hollis Wilford, Steve Kestrel, and other promising artists. Other important sculptors would be added as it progressed through the country. Sharles was also delegated with the honor of sculpting a bronze centerpiece for the opening night. With the loosely stated theme of “flight”, the requested sculpture seemed of little significance in light of the high caliber of art being showcased. With only three weeks to complete, it was an inspired rush-job. The centerpiece created was a 5 1/2 foot totem-like structure of turtles, iguanas, and birds, crowned with the head of a Native American. The sculpture symbolized man learning the principles of flight from gliding sea turtles, and birds that had evolved from dinosaurs and reptiles. The piece, “Evolution of Flight,” was so successful opening night that it was given a place in the traveling sculpture show. This showstopper, exotic piece, amazed and awed viewers but none more so, than the airline that had anticipated seeing an eagle, or some historical rendition of Kitty Hawk. Both the “Evolution of Flight” sculpture and the traveling show solidified the career of Sharles as a professional sculptor almost over night. He had embarked on both projects as a totally unknown artist and had revealed just a tip of the iceberg. Galleries and collectors took notice. In 1996 the March issue of Southwest Art Magazine published a sizeable article followed by a similar piece in May/June 1998 Art of the West Magazine. The Art Council of the Cerritos, California commissioned Sharles in 1998 through the National Sculptors' Guild to sculpt a major public art installation for the front of the new public library. They wanted a bronze of a giant, red amaryllis flower and purple lotus flowers incorporated in to a 12 foot multi-piece water fountain. In 2006, Sharles was commissioned by the city of Loveland, Colorado to create two, circular, 32″ bas-relieves of California quail...

Golden by Craig Campbell Expressionistic Dog Sculpture 12 x 4.5 x 8.5" Bronze 1/1 Man's best friend, a Golden Retriever retrieving ABOUT THE ARTIST: Craig Campbell began sculpting ...

"La Paire d'Amour" by Darrell Davis Depicts two ducks snuggled cozily on a bit of driftwood. 25" x 16" x 10" Bronze ed/20 2013 winner of the National Scu...

King of the Coop by Sandy Scott Bronze Wildlife Sculpture Rooster Maquette 18x18x7" ed/75 ABOUT THE ARTIST: Sandy Scott received her formal art training at the Kansas City Art Institute and later worked as an animation background artist for the motion picture industry. She turned her attention to etchings and printmaking in the 1970’s and to sculpture in the 1980’s. Born in Dubuque, Iowa in 1943 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she is now headquartered in Lander, Wyoming near the foundry that casts her bronzes and she maintains studios on Lake of the Woods...

"The Game of Alpha" by Sherry Salari Sander Bronze, signed and numbered 35/35 14" high, 40" wide, 11" deep This particular casting is available on th...

It was exhibited in the original Miami beach antique show and Palm beach "American International Fine Art Fair (AIFAF)". We have specialized in the sale of Art Deco and Art Nouveau ...

Japanese Contemporary porcelain decorative vase, extremely intricately hand painted in underglaze cobalt blue on an elegant bottle shape porcelain body, a signed piece by widely accl...

Presenting a gorgeous and extremely rare early 20 century American Dedham pottery oxblood & gilt bronze table lamp of medium proportions. In the sha...

(1997). Original oil on canvas; 24" x 30". Lynx in autumn forest. Peter’s studio was in Chicago and, unlike many, was a painter since boyhood, later being recognized as a designated ...

G. Harvey (Gerald Harvey Jones) (1933-2017) San Antonio, Austin, and Fredericksburg Artist Image Size: 18 x 24 Frame Size: 30 x 36 Medium: Oil Dated 1985 "Las Flores De Ixtapan" MEXI...

GC Williams has a degree in art history which gave her an understanding of, and appreciation for, not only the art of the past, but the historical events and ideologies that fostered...

Large art nouveau lamp circa 1900. Wrought iron frame mounted on a wooden base. Glass tulip signed Quezal. Signature stamped on the collar of the tuipe. Wrought iron frame made by Cherpions establishments, signed on the claw of the tulip "Cherpions Nancy" Electrified lamp and in perfect state of conservation. Total height: 49.5 cm - 19.48 in Base length: 28.5 cm - 11.22 in Base depth: 23.5 cm - 9.25 in Weight: 3.5kg You can contact me for more information and delivery costs. Quezal Quezal Art Glass – The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles – April 2003 By Malcolm Mac Neil Some of the most beautiful and alluring art glass made in America during the early part of the 20th Century was made by the Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Company. Often in the shape of blossoming lilies with brilliant gold interiors and colorfully decorated with floral and other motifs inspired by nature, Quezal art glass ranks right alongside the iridescent glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Frederick Carder. Quezal artisans created an extensive range of decorative and useful items, including vases, compotes, finger bowls, open salts, candle holders, and shades for lighting fixtures, which are equivalent in terms of beauty and quality of craftsmanship to Tiffany’s Favrile and Carder’s Aurene glass. In recent years, glass collectors have discovered anew the special charms and appeal of Quezal art glass, and collector desirability for this lovely glassware has increased dramatically. The Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Company was incorporated a century ago, on March 27, 1902. It was founded by Martin Bach, Sr., Thomas Johnson, Nicholas Bach, Lena Scholtz, and Adolph Demuth. The factory was located on the corner of Fresh Pond Road and Metropolitan Avenue in Maspeth, Queens, New York. In October 1902, the trademark “Quezal” was successfully registered. By 1904, roughly fifty glassworkers were employed at the works. Born in 1862 in Alsace-Lorraine to German parents, he emigrated to the United States in 1891. Before his emigration, Bach worked in Saint-Louis, France, at the Saint-Louis Glass Factory. After Bach arrived in this country, he was hired by Louis C. Tiffany as the latter’s first batch-mixer or chemist at the newly established Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, in Corona, Queens. After a period of about eight years, Bach left Tiffany and established his own glassworks. By this time, Bach had already started his small family. To this day, the belief still exists that there once existed a man named Quezal, who worked for Louis C. Tiffany, and it is after him that Quezal glass is named. In truth, however, the founders of the Quezal Art Glass and Decorating Company named the company and its products after one of the world’s most beautiful birds, the elusive and rare quetzal, which dwells in the treetops of the remote tropical forests of Central America. A rare company promotional brochure provides a vivid description of the quetzal: Of all the birds of the America’s, it is the most gorgeous. No more splendid sight is to be seen in all the world than a quezal, flying like a darting flame through the depths of a Central American forest. Its back is of a brilliant metallic green, so vivid it shines even in the twilight of the woods like a great emerald and its breast is a crimson so deep and bright that every motion of the wonderful creature is a flashing of rubies among the trees and giant creepers. It bears a true golden crown upon its head – a helmet of bright yellow and green, shaped just as the helmet of old Aztec kings were shaped. Its tail is composed of lacelike plumes, extending more than two and one-half feet beyond its body. The quezal was certainly an appropriate designation for the company’s resplendent glassware. One of the most prized characteristics of Quezal art glass is the shimmering and dazzling brilliance reflected in the iridescent surfaces on the interior as well as exterior of the glass. The radiant rainbow colors in metallic hues, including gold, purple, blue, green, and pink, to name only a few, were certainly inspired by the quetzal and its feathers. Not surprisingly, lustrous feathers, in shades of opal, gold, emerald, and blue, are among the most common decorative motifs encountered on Quezal glass. The enduring hallmark of Quezal art glass is its unique expression of the Art Nouveau style, based on organic shapes and naturalistic motifs coupled with technical perfection in the execution. Vases, compotes, drinking vessels, and shades for lighting fixtures were often fashioned to resemble flowers such as crocuses, tulips, calla lilies, casablanca lilies, and jack-in-the-pulpits. Variously colored inlaid threads of glass, pulled and twisted by hooks, simulate naturalistic floral and leaf patterns, lily pads, clover leafs, and vines. Opal, gold, and green colors prevail and the glass is generally opaque. Red is the rarest color of all. Compared with Tiffany’s Favrile glass, the crisp, vivid, and colorful decoration of Quezal art glass is distinctively precise, symmetrical, and restrained. Other Quezal wares recall shapes and styles favored in ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome, as well as the Italian Renaissance and the Georgian period in England. This is especially true of classic-shaped vases and bowls of translucent amber glass, which have a single surface color such as iridescent gold or blue. Still, others were inspired by traditional Chinese and Japanese forms. The Gorham Manufacturing Company in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Alvin Silver Manufacturing Company in Sag Harbor, Long Island, purchased Quezal art glass, which they in turn embellished in their shops with silver overlay decoration in the fashionable Art Nouveau style and later resold. Gorham’s silver overlay designs mostly include stylized floral motifs. Alvin’s silver designs are wonderfully organic. One sumptuous design is of a group of sinuous iris blossoms with carefully articulated petals surrounded by attenuated meandering vines. Collectors should note that not all silver-deposit pieces are marked with a maker’s mark since the silversmith had to be quite careful not to damage the glass underneath. A rare 1907 retail catalog survives from Bailey, Banks, and Biddle Company, a luxury goods retailer in Philadelphia, which reveals original retail prices of Quezal art glass. A surprising revelation provided by this catalog is that Quezal art glass was nearly twice as expensive as comparable French imported glass made by such renowned firms as Gallé and Daum. Hock glasses, a stemmed glass used primarily for drinking German white wine, were sold by the dozen and retailed between $50 and $75. Fingerbowls were also sold by the dozen and retailed between $50 and $100. These high retail prices were nearly the same as those charged for Tiffany’s Favrile glass, and suggest Quezal art glass was also marketed towards the high-end or luxury market. Electricity was a brand new invention in the late 1800s and American glass manufacturers developed novel approaches for concealing the electric light bulb, which was rather harsh to the eye and perhaps unflattering to the domestic interior. Tiffany, Steuben, and Quezal responded to this need with the most extraordinary and beautiful art-glass shades, all of which were  hand-made and exquisitely fashioned. Many other companies also made art glass shades for table and floor lamps, electroliers, hallway fixtures, and wall sconces, but it was Quezal that excelled in this area and was the most prolific. Quezal art glass shades were available in an infinite variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and decorations. Some shades are formed and decorated as lilies while others are bell-shaped and have ribbed or textured decoration. Rims are usually plain but sometimes are notched or ruffled. Common motifs include feather or hooked feather, leaf and vine, applied flowers, drape, fishnet, King Tut, and spider webbing. The workmanship shown on most Quezal shades is of the highest caliber. The sale of these shades represented a significant portion of the firm’s revenue. Many manufacturers and retailers of electric lighting fixtures purchased Quezal shades to sell with their fixtures, including Edward F. Caldwell and Company in New York City, Stuart-Howland Company in Boston, and The David J. Braun Mfg. Co., in Chicago. The 1907 Bailey, Banks and Biddle retail catalog mentioned earlier, reveals Quezal art glass shades retailed between $7.50 and $22.50 per shade. Today, Quezal shades are actively collected and prices are considerably higher, especially for the rarest, largest, and most elaborately decorated ones. Amazingly, little is known about the original names for each of the company’s products – for they certainly had them. One most satisfying exception is an attractive and distinctive line introduced by Quezal in 1917, which was appropriately named “The Glass That Looks Like Pottery.”  The subtle color blending and soft finish of the glass has all the rich color tones of the finest contemporary art pottery produced in America or abroad. In 1919, Quezal’s new sales representatives, Dela Croix & Wilcken, who were located at 19 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, changed the name to “Innovation.” “Innovation” is distinguished from Quezal’s other art glass because it is not iridescent. In addition, the high-gloss body of the glass is always opaque and usually consists of a subtle and artistic blending of colors that include dark and light brown, olive green, gray, pale blue, lavender, dark orange, and pale yellow. Previously this glass has been referred to as “stone,” “agate” or “laminated” glass, which are the different terms used to designate a similar type of glass by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company. No two pieces are alike. The over-all effect is otherworldly and sometimes reminiscent of a tropical sunset. In some cases, the shape and coloring are strikingly similar to ceramics; in others the decoration is bold and distinctive. Fortunately, a few of the line drawing sketchbooks, trade catalog pages, bill-heads, correspondence and other papers from the Quezal glassworks have survived. In 1994, these papers were donated by the children of Martin Bach, Jr., Gladyce Bach Wells, and Clifford Bach, to the Museum of American Glass at Wheaton Village in Millville, New Jersey. One of these documents reveals the original pattern designations, which included diamond, curl, hammered, frill, block-a-dot, reed, feather, leaf, heart, and spider. The “spider” decoration is certainly an appropriate designation for this type of glass. It is easily recognizable by the very thin threads of amber glass randomly wrapped around some vases and shades, much like a real spider would weave its web. Detailed line drawings exist for a wide variety of items and demonstrate the high level of technical skill required by Quezal artisans, who manufactured these items according to clearly prescribed specifications. Most companies that produced art glass in this country followed the lead of Louis C. Tiffany and marked their products with an identifying signature or a paper label to distinguish their products from those of their competitors. The Quezal glassworks was no exception. Quezal art glass is usually signed so it can be more easily distinguished from similar items, including those marked Tiffany, Steuben, Kew Blas...

A vintage, Japanese bronze vase from Takaoka. Takaoka is a city on the main island of Honshu. While bronze work originated in China, Japanese artisans have developed an array of tech...

A handcrafted group of Frog Musicians, sitting on a bench and two chairs. There is some loss to paint. Otherwise they are very well done.

Publisher GKM. Edition of 75 ex. Free shipment worldwide. Acquired directly from the artist. Temporality and eternity are two concepts that increasingly compete in my work.
I have ...

Agneta Hobin of Finland is best known for impressive works in which yellow mica has been woven into metal warp; the technique and materials are the art...

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