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Art Nouveau Period Collection

Art Nouveau Antiques (FRANCE, UNITED KINGDOM, CA. 1880–1914)
Art Nouveau Antiques (FRANCE, UNITED KINGDOM, CA. 1880–1914)

Art Nouveau was a modernizing movement in the decorative arts that developed in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States. In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, Art Nouveau furniture, jewelry and graphic design reflected a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era.  

Art Nouveau can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. The signature motif is the "whiplash" curve — a deep, narrow, dynamic parabola that appears as an element in everything from chair arms to cabinetry and mirror frames. The visual vocabulary of Art Nouveau was particularly influenced by the soft colors and abstract images of nature seen in Japanese art prints, which arrived in large numbers in the West after open trade was forced upon Japan in the 1860s. The style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha. While all Art Nouveau designs share common formal elements, different countries and regions produced their own variants. 

In Scotland, the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed a singular, restrained look based on scale rather than ornament; a style best known from his narrow chairs with exceedingly tall backs, designed for Glasgow tea rooms. Meanwhile in France, Hector Guimard — whose iconic 1896 entry arches for the Paris Metro are still in use — and Louis Majorelle produced chairs, desks, bedframes and cabinets with sweeping lines and rich veneers. The Art Nouveau movement was known as Jugendstil ("Youth Style") in Germany, and in Austria the designers of the Vienna Secession group — notably Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich — produced a relatively austere iteration of the Art Nouveau style, which mixed curving and geometric elements.  

Art Nouveau revitalized all of the applied arts. Ceramists such as Ernest Chaplet and Edmond Lachenal created new forms covered in novel and rediscovered glazes that produced thick, foam-like finishes. Bold vases, bowls and lighting designs in acid-etched and marquetry cameo glass by Émile Gallé and the Daum Freres appeared in France, while in New York the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany brought out buoyant pieces in opalescent favrile glass. Jewelry design was revolutionized, as settings, for the first time, were emphasized as much as, or more than, gemstones. A favorite Art Nouveau jewelry motif was insects (think of Tiffany, in his famed Dragonflies glass lampshade).   

Like a mayfly, Art Nouveau was short-lived. The sensuous, languorous style fell out of favor early in the 20th century, deemed perhaps too light and insubstantial for European tastes in the aftermath of World War I. But as the designs on 1stDibs demonstrate, Art Nouveau retains its power to fascinate and seduce.

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Period: 19th Century
French Art Nouveau Statuary Marble Mantelpiece
Located in London, GB
A refined French Art Nouveau white Statuary marble fireplace. The shaped frieze with delicately carved rose and foliage to centre and ends, the jambs with full length tapered panels....
Category

Late 19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Marble

French Art Nouveau Bergére Arm Chair
Located in New York, NY
French Art Nouveau walnut high back bergere arm chair with brown velvet upholstery
Category

19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Walnut, Upholstery

Gothic Armoire
Located in New York, NY
FAPG 19959D/2 Gothic Revival armoire New York, about 1835-1840 Mahogany, with brass hardware Measure: 104 in. high, 73 in. wide, 30 in. deep Exhibited: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 2011–12, The World of Duncan Phyfe: The Arts of New York, 1800–1847, p. 89 no. 45 illus. 89 Ex coll.: Private collection (probably R. H. Selstadt, Big Stone Gap, Virginia) Although no specific pieces of Gothic furniture documented as by Duncan Phyfe have come to light, there is considerable evidence that he, like various of his contemporaries in New York, embraced the Gothic style. For example, the catalogue of the Halliday & Jenkins auction sale of the contents of Phyfe’s furniture ware rooms, which was held on site at 192 and 194 Fulton Street, New York, on April 16 and 17, 1847, included a “mahogany centre table Gothic gilt pillar and Egyptian marble top” (Halliday & Jenkins, p. 3 no. 63); “12 mahogany Gothic chairs...
Category

19th Century American Gothic Revival Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Brass

Art Nouveau Console Table from Austria with Bronze, Mahogan and Onyx, circa 1890
Located in Chicago, IL
Exquisite Viennese Art Nouveau oblong Console Table made from solid Mahogany with magnificent Bronze clover details and an exotic appearing Onyx t...
Category

19th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Onyx, Bronze

Art Nouveau Walnut Hatrack & Umbrella Stand
Located in New York, NY
French Art Nouveau walnut and maple hatrack with a large center mirror having whiplash carving and 5 gilt bronze firefly coat hooks and lower umbrella stand with 2 brass rails.
Category

Late 19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Brass, Bronze

Very Rare Art Nouveau Gouache, Van De Velde 1899
Located in Encino, CA
ART NOUVEAU France 1899 Very rare gouache depicting flowers in the full Art Nouveau spirit. Very close and typical to Henry Van De Velde Works H.25"1/2 x w.23"1/2 with mat H.20...
Category

19th Century French Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Paper

Lobmeyr 7 Piece Lobed Rose Shaded to Clear Crystal Cordial Set
By J.L Lobmeyr
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This lovely Art Nouveau period hand blown crystal decanter is part of a complete cordial set. The 6-lobed decanter shades from a clear neck to a deep cranberry base with 6 matching q...
Category

19th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Crystal

French Art Nouveau Filigree Pedestal
Located in New York, NY
French Art Nouveau stripped floral filigree pedestal with square top.
Category

Late 19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Wood

CAC/ Ceramic Art Company Lenox Hand-Painted Vase with Raised Paste Gold Tulips
By Lenox's Ceramic Art Company
Located in Great Barrington, MA
This jewel of a vase is a masterful example of Ceramic Art Company-Lenox, in the Art Nouveau style. Completely hand decorated with two colors of raised pas...
Category

19th Century American Art Nouveau Antique Art Nouveau Period Collection

Materials

Porcelain

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Antique French Armoire Linen Cabinet Wardrobe Chest Gothic Revival Oak c. 1890s
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French Art Nouveau Umbrella Stand, 1900
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French Art Nouveau Umbrella Stand, 1900
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H 28.67 in W 23.43 in D 10.24 in
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French Armoire
Located in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
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French Armoire
French Armoire
H 93 in W 70 in D 27.5 in
Antique Art Nouveau Brown & Green Majolica Pottery Walking Stick Umbrella Stand
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique Art Nouveau Brown & Green Majolica Pottery Walking Stick Umbrella Stand. Circa Late 19th Century. Measurements: 20" H x 11" Diameter.
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