Jean Despres
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Jean Despres Champagne Bucket, 1950
By Jean Despres
Located in Saint-Amans-des-Cots, FR
Champagne bucket by Jean Despres, France, circa 1950. Important hammered silver plated champagne bucket with cylindrical hammered body presenting two scrolled handles underlined with spheres and decorated at the top of the Jean Despres flat link chain. Incised signature "J.Després" under the base (see photo). A similar model is illustrated in the book "Jean Després, jeweler and goldsmith between Art Deco and modernity" by Melissa Gabardi, page 151, to Editions Norma (see photos).
Jean Despres, born June 15, 1889 in Souvigny (Allier), and died in 1980 in Avallon (Yonne), is a French goldsmith, creator of jewelry, objects and furniture of Art Deco style, specializing in the work of the silver.
Jean Despres was born into a descendant family of master glassmakers, Després de Loisy, and glaziers, Turlin. The family moved in Avallon in 1890 to open an articles of paintings and art store at no. 27 rue de Paris and then at no. 20 place Vauban.
He attended school and college in Avallon without being a very bright student. His passion was cycling and competitions. He obtained his patent in 1905. His father placed him in apprenticeship with a friend, goldsmith in Paris in the Marais district.
At the same time, he completed his training by following the drawing classes in the schools of the city of Paris and frequented the Bateau-Lavoir, where he met Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Paul Signac, Giorgio De Chirico, Marie Laurencin, Chaim Soutine, Maurice Utrillo and Georges Braque, whom will be his best friend. He is passionate about cubism.
During World War I, Jean Despres was assigned as a draftsman mechanic in the workshops of the military aviation. This double experience will durably mark him and feed all his work. He participated in the Art Deco movement. He had many friends in the avant-garde of the time, such as Paul Jouve or Maurice de Vlaminck.
In the 1920s and 1930s, he took over his parents' store in Avallon and set up his studio where he created motor jewelry, whose pure forms inspired by aeronautical mechanical parts were part of the avant-garde movement. Craftsman of metal, gold, silver, tin, Despres shaped material, invented new forms. Like his contemporaries Marcel Sandoz or Raymond Templier, he was one of those pioneers who renounce the codes of high jewelry and the use of precious stones. He participated, with the help of Paul Signac, in his first Salon des Indépendants in 1926.
He also participated in the revival of the forms of goldsmithing by removing the classic ornaments, to create pieces with massive shapes, silver, pewter, usually silver metal, everyone recognizable by its hammered appearance.
In 1935, he took care of the Art and Fashion Gallery at No. 39 rue du Colisée in Paris. In 1936, he married Simone Delattre, painter and decorator on embroidered fabrics. He was rewarded by the Aeroclub which awards him a gold medal in 1937. These works were beginning to be known abroad. The following year, he was named Knight of the Legion of Honor. He run his gallery and kept his studio in Avallon. In 1940, he was President of the Goldsmiths' Union, a professional delegate for artistic protection at the international jewelry-goldsmith's office. He was the goldsmith's rapporteur on the awards commission of the Society for the Promotion of Art and Industry.
In 1943, he came to live on rue de La Trémoille in Paris, where he had a shop at the same address. Among his friends, he counted Pierre Vigoureux and frequented Jules Cavaillès, Worms, Peltier, Lalique, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Fernand Léger and many others. He counted Josephine Baker among his famous clients.
After the war, Jean Despres will expose several times, with the support of the State, in different foreign countries. In 1972, he offered the city of Avallon sixty-eight of his works.
Exhibitions
1925: Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, with Rose Adler and the painter Étienne Cournault
1925: International Exhibition of Decorative Arts
1926: Salon des indépendants
1928: Salon of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts
1928: Salon des Artistes-Decorateurs
1930: Union des Artistes Modernes, at the Pavillon de Marsan, he exhibits surrealist jewelry...
Category
1950s French Modern Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Metal
Jean Despres Decorative Pan for Aperitif, 1950
By Jean Despres
Located in Saint-Amans-des-Cots, FR
Decorative pan for aperitif by Jean Despres, France, circa 1950. Silver-plated metal piece with a hammered handle, and decorated at the base of a flat link chain. The plating is orig...
Category
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Metal
Jean Despres Covered Urn and a Jug Treated in the Ottoman Style, circa 1930
By Jean Despres
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Jean Despres (1889-1980)
Covered urn and a jug treated in the Ottoman style. Silver metal proofs, the surface fully hammered except for the handles and the spout,
circa 1930
Each pie...
Category
1930s French Islamic Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Silver
H 16.54 in W 0.4 in D 0.4 in
Jean Despres: Pair Of Silver Plate Candlesticks
By Jean Despres
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Pair of silver plate candlesticks by Jean Despres
Hammered base, the base of the barrels decorated with hammered half spheres
Signature at the tip J. Desprès
Silversmith's mark: J...
Category
1950s French Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Silver Plate
Jean Desprès Hammered Silver Cendrier, 1950
By Jean Despres
Located in Holmfirth, GB
Rare Jean Després decorative Cendrier with manufacturers stamp and signature.
Artist: Jean Després
Year: c.1950
Size: 9.3cm x 9.3cm x 3.5cm
Country of Manufacture: Fra...
Category
1950s Modern Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Silver
Jean Despres Silver o.925 Art Deco Brooch
By Jean Despres
Located in Autonomous City Buenos Aires, CABA
Jean Despres was a French jewelry maker and designer best known for his intricate Art Deco jewelry made from semi-precious stones, machine parts, andena...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Sterling Silver
Jean Desprès - Bowl Art Deco Modernist Hammered Silver Plated Metal
By Jean Despres
Located in Boulogne Billancourt, FR
Bowl "Art Deco - Modernist" made in hammered silver plated metal by Jean Desprès.
Engraved signature under the base.
Great condition.
height: 11,...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Despres
Materials
Silver Plate
Modernist Bowl by Jean Despres, circa 1930, Silvered Metal
By Jean Despres
Located in Brussels, BE
Modernist bowl by Jean Despres, circa 1930, silvered metal.
Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Jean Despres
Materials
Metal
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Jean Despres furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Jean Despres furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of silver and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Jean Despres furniture, although silver editions of this piece are particularly popular. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Gallia, ROBJ, and Jean Puiforcat. Prices for Jean Despres furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $1,700 and can go as high as $7,500, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $1,900.