In its sinuous lines and flamboyant curves inspired by the natural world, antique Art Nouveau furniture reflects a desire for freedom from the stuffy social and artistic strictures of the Victorian era. The Art Nouveau movement developed in the decorative arts in France and Britain in the early 1880s and quickly became a dominant aesthetic style in Western Europe and the United States.
ORIGINS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGN
ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
ANTIQUE ART NOUVEAU FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Art Nouveau — which spanned furniture, architecture, jewelry and graphic design — can be easily identified by its lush, flowing forms suggested by flowers and plants, as well as the lissome tendrils of sea life. Although Art Deco and Art Nouveau were both in the forefront of turn-of-the-20th-century design, they are very different styles — Art Deco is marked by bold, geometric shapes while Art Nouveau incorporates dreamlike, floral motifs. The latter’s 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. Impressionist artists were moved by the artistic tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking, and Japonisme — a term used to describe the appetite for Japanese art and culture in Europe at the time — greatly informed Art Nouveau.
The Art Nouveau style quickly reached a wide audience in Europe via advertising posters, book covers, illustrations and other work by such artists as Aubrey Beardsley, Henri de 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, bed frames 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 glass workshop-cum-laboratory of Louis Comfort Tiffany — the core of what eventually became a multimedia decorative-arts manufactory called Tiffany Studios — 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.
There are ways to tastefully integrate a touch of Art Nouveau into even the most modern interior — browse an extraordinary collection of original antique Art Nouveau furniture on 1stDibs, which includes decorative objects, seating, tables, garden elements and more.
Antique Blackinton & Co. Art Nouveau Iris Flower Sterling Silver Matchsafe
By Whiting Manufacturing Company, Gorham Manufacturing Company, R. Blackinton & Co., Tiffany & Co.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine signed antique Art Nouveau silver matchsafe or vesta. By R. Blackington & Co. In sterling silver. With repousse tropical flora throughout the body and lid and a blank carto...
Sterling Silver
Snuff Box races miniature fire-enameled guilloche and engraved drawing Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Octagonal table snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with black fired enamel inserted in a hand engraved drawing and with fired enamelled miniature, hand painted by the p...
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
GEORGE ADAM SCHEID 1900 Art Nouveau Joseph Maria Auchentaller Enameled Box
Located in Miami, FL
Joseph Maria Auchentaller enameled box for George Adam Scheid (1837-1921). An extremely rare box created in Vienna, Austria, at the silversmith atelier of Georg Adam Scheid, circa 1...
Silver, Gold, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Antique American Art Nouveau Repousse Sterling Silver Matchsafe or Vesta
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine antique signed silver Art Nouveau matchsafe. In sterling silver. With repousse decoration of rocaille swags around the edges of both sides. With a striker to the base. Mar...
Sterling Silver
Antique Blackinton & Co Nouveau Fish & Water Repousse Sterling Silver Matchsafe
By R. Blackinton & Co., Whiting Manufacturing Company, Gorham Manufacturing Company, Tiffany & Co.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine antique signed silver Art Nouveau fish-themed matchsafe. By R. Blackinton & Co. In sterling silver. With repousse decoration of fish splashing on the water's surface to...
Sterling Silver
Pill Box Round, domed in Silver Sterling Enamel on a guilloche pattern Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Gold-Plated Sterling Silver and Enamel Pill Box with Floral Miniature by Romano Buccioni, Salimbeni, Florence, 1980 Exquisite shaped pill box in 925/1000 sterling silver, gold plate...
Gold Plate, Enamel, Sterling Silver
Antique Blackinton & Co. Palm Leaf Tropical Sterling Silver Matchsafe or Vesta
By Whiting Manufacturing Company, Tiffany & Co., R. Blackinton & Co., Gorham Manufacturing Company
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A fine signed antique Art Nouveau silver matchsafe or vesta. By R. Blackington & Co. In sterling silver. With repousse tropical flora throughout the body and lid and a blank carto...
Sterling Silver
Antique Majolica Tobacco Jar Munich Child in Hofbrauhaus Keg, Germany 1890s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
This offer is for an antique figural tobacco jar featuring the Munich Child on a keg from Munich's famous Hofbrauhaus. The jar reads "Tabak" (german fo...
Majolica
Snuffbox Art Nouveau style sterling silver white enamel with flowers Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
A Viennese Bouquet: Art Nouveau Snuff Box by Franco Salimbeni, 1973 This exceptional round snuffbox is a profound homage to the opulent artistry of late 19th-century Viennese Art No...
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Snuffbox guilloche pattern and a hand-painted floral miniature Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Shaped snuffbox in gold-plated 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent fired enamels on a guilloche pattern and a hand-painted floral miniature, with fine hand-engravings on the si...
Gold, Enamel, Sterling Silver, Gold Plate
Pill Box Rectangular Sterling Silver Art Nouveau with floral miniature Salimbeni
By Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
This is a rectangular, gold-plated sterling silver pill box, exquisitely decorated with translucent enamels over a guilloché (engine-turned) pattern and featuring a hand-painted flor...
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
French Majolica Box with Cyclamens, Circa 1890
Located in Austin, TX
French Majolica box with Cyclamens, Circa 1890.
Ceramic
Pill Box Round, domed in Silver Sterling Enamel on a guilloche pattern Salimbeni
By Giorgio Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Giorgio Salimbeni Gold-Plated Sterling Silver and Enamel Pill Box with Miniature by Renato Buccioni, Florence, 1978 Exquisite round, domed pill box in 925/1000 sterling silver, gold...
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Pill Box Sterling Silver Art Nouveau with floral miniature Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Gold-Plated Sterling Silver and Enamel Pill Box with Floral Miniature by Romano Buccioni for Salimbeni, Florence, 1980 Charming shaped pill box in 925/1000 sterling silver, gold pla...
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Snuff box Enamel Double opening Sterling Silver flower bouquet Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Square snuff box with two slightly domed sides in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guillochè and hand-painted miniature of flower bouquet, late 1...
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Snuffbox savonette shape 925 silver handpainted head running horse Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Snuff box "savonette" shape in 925/1000 sterling silver with fire enamel and hand painted miniature on white background depicting a heads of running horse . English "Art Nouveau" st...
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Snuffbox with Flowers miniature Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni.
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rectangular table snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent enamels fired on guilloche and hand-painted floral miniature; external blue staff. Art Nouveau sty...
Gold, Enamel, Sterling Silver, Gold Plate
Snuffbox female face wearing Art Nouveau style clothing Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Giorgio Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rounded rectangular snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fine hand-painted fire-enamelled miniature depicting a female face wearing Art Nouveau style clothing, hand-...
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
$306Sale Price|55% Off
Majolica Tobacco Box Pot Jar by Johann Maresch, Austria, circa 1900
Located in Nuernberg, DE
This offer is for one of our rare Majolica items, an exceptional tobacco box pot or jar out of the sack series by Johann Maresch from the beginning of the 20th century. The beautiful...
Majolica
Pill Box Oval shape Art Nouveau floral miniature Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Giorgio Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Art Nouveau Jewel: Guilloché Enamel & Hand-Painted Pill Box by Giorgio Salimbeni, 1977 This exceptional oval pill box is a masterful synthesis of two revered decorative arts: th...
Gold Plate, Enamel, Sterling Silver
Set of Austrian Tobacco Jar and Cigar box
Located in Vienna, AT
A set of beautiful tobacco boxes made in Austria. Made i.n the Art Nouveau/Art Deco period. The measurements are: Depth: 14.5 cm - Width: 21 cm - Height: 6.5 cm Depth: 12.5 cm - ...
Stone
Snuff Box “Savonette” Sterling Silver Fire Enamel and Miniature Salimbeni Home>S
By Giorgio Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Snuff box “savonette” shape in 925/1000 sterling silver with fire enamel and hand painted miniature on white background depicting two heads of running horses . English “Art Nouveau” ...
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Snuff Box round in Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamels on guillochè and hand-painted floral miniature, surrounded by a frame with leaves on a blue bac...
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Snuff Box "Soap" Shaped with Horse's Head Sterling Silver Enamel Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Oval rounded "soap" shaped snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver with fired enamels above and below and hand-painted miniature of a horse's head, English "Art Nouveau" style, early 1900s. Measurements cm. 4.7 x 6.7 x 2. Weight gr. 96. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1980 and manufactured in Florence in the headquarters of the Salimbeni company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous enamelled firings at high heat at about 800° C. Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions. It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books. Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items. Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques. The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds: 1) Fire enamel. 2) Water tempera on an ivory plate. 3) Painted on mother-of-pearl. Fire enameled miniatures: On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors. With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color. It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times. Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene. Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors. The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real ivory...
Sterling Silver, Enamel
$1,638Sale Price|20% Off
Art Nouveau Brass and Copper Coal Bucket
Located in London, GB
Exceptional Art Nouveau brass with copper coal bucket with ribbon on top.
Brass, Copper
Snuffbox white enamel sterling silve stylised birdr miniature on the lid Salimba
By Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Round curved snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent fired enamels on guilloché, above and below, and miniature on the lid of a stylised bird, hand painted by the paint...
Gold, Enamel, Sterling Silver, Gold Plate
Antique Austrian Silver & Enamel Pill Boxes 1920
Located in Buenos Aires, Argentina
This elegant set of four Austrian Art Deco pill boxes, crafted circa 1920, showcases the refined luxury and craftsmanship typical of early-20th-centu...
Silver
$1,498
H 0.55 in W 2.68 in D 1.02 in
GEORGE ADAM SCHEID 1905 Edwardian Guilloche Enamel Naveta Pill Box
Located in Miami, FL
An enameled pill-box for George Adam Scheid (1837-1921). A very fine antique pill box created in Vienna, Austria, at the silversmith atelier of Geo...
Gold, Silver, Enamel, Sterling Silver
Tiffany & Co., Sterling Silver Ball/Sphere/Jewelry Box, Modern, Marked
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Very pretty sterling silver Tiffany & Co. jewelry ball, box, number 35378 Weighted, 7.
Sterling Silver
Art Nouveau Guénardeau box in patinated spelter
Located in Ternay, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Art Nouveau box from the 1920s by the French artist Guénardeau. Entirely made of spelter with decoration typical of the period: flowers, a woman's bust on the lid, and arabesques. A ...
Spelter
Italian Silver and Enamel Box
Located in Newark, England
GUILLOCHE ENAMEL AND SILVER GILT From our collectables category, we are delighted to offer this incredible quality Italian Mid-Century Modern Silver and Enamel Box. The Silver and E...
Gold Plate, Silver, Enamel
$2,239
H 1.58 in W 0.36 in D 1.26 in
Antique Victorian Sterling Silver and Enamel Vesta Case by Lawrence Emanuel
By Lawrence Emanuel, Birmingham 1
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Victorian English sterling silver and enamel vesta case; an addition to our range of collectable silver cases. This exceptional antique...
Silver, Sterling Silver, Enamel
$630Sale Price|30% Off
H 3.23 in W 0.71 in D 3.23 in
Silver snuff box with chiseled engravings, gilded interior and guilloche lid
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Silver snuff box with chiseled engraving, gilded interior and guilloche lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Mark: open-winged eagle. Weight: 110.99 grams. Dimen...
Silver
1900 Rosewood Box Art Nouveau by Erhard & Soehne
Located in Marseille, FR
Box rosewood and brass inlay cover Art Nouveau by Erhard and Soehne, circa 1900.
Copper
$808
H 0.52 in Dm 1.66 in
Pill Box Yellow floral miniature in Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Pill Box Yellow floral miniature in Art Nouveau style Sterling Silver Salimbeni.Round pillbox in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent...
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
$2,640Sale Price|20% Off
H 2.63 in W 6.25 in D 4 in
Antique Japanese Meiji Art Nouveau Silver Box with Iris Flowers
Located in New York, NY
English Victorian Classical sterling silver cann, 1864. Baluster bowl with leaf-capped double-scroll handle and raised and beaded foot. Four scroll frames with leaf and bead surround...
Silver
Art Nouveau Celtic Hound Casket Repoussé Box by Alfred Daguet
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Note: We highly recommend shipping through 1stDibs for its cost effectiveness, full insurance coverage, and reliable handling. While standard parcel services are an option, the defau...
Enamel, Steel, Brass
Art Nouveau Basilisk Repoussé Box by Alfred Daguet
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Alfred Louis Achille DAGUET (1875 - 1942) was a metalsmith active in Paris during the first part of the 20th century. His metalwork created prior to the outbreak of World War I, note...
Brass, Enamel, Steel
French Silver and Enamel Snuff Box Hallmarked Benjamin Wolles
Located in Newark, England
Gold Wire Inlay From our Collectables collection, we are delighted to introduce this French Silver and Enamel Snuffbox. The Snuff Box of oval shape with a white enamel glaze mounted...
Gold, Silver, Enamel
Art Nouveau Silverplated Pill Snuff Box Floral ECHINACEA Pattern Jugendstil
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
Art Nouveau Silverplated Pill Box Floral ECHINACEA Pattern Jugendstil Origin: probably France Marks: unmarked Diameter: ca. 4,7 cm / 1.85" Height: ca. 2,...
Metal, Silver Plate
Austrian Silver & Enamel Horse Snuff Box
Located in Newark, England
The box of rectangular shape with faceted corners topped with an enamel scene featuring three horses grazing by the watering trough amongst a sunburst enamel background. The interior...
Gold Plate, Silver, Enamel
Art Nouveau Cigarette Box 14k Gold With Sapphire
Located in Vienna, AT
Beautiful wooden cigarette box with 14 carat solid gold handle with a sapphire. Line on the side to light up matches.
Multi-gemstone, Gold
Sold
H 1.97 in W 0.97 in D 0.43 in
Napoleon Linder 1890 Paris Hinged Vesta Matches Box in Niello and .900 Silver
Located in Miami, FL
Vesta matches box designed by Napoleon Linder. Very rare hinged box, created in Paris France at the silversmith atelier of Napoleon Linder. This is a vesta matches box crafted in ...
Silver, Sterling Silver
Bernham Linder, Hammered Copper Box, Jugend, Sweden Early 1900s
Located in Stockholm, SE
A rare box in hammered copper, by and marked Bernham Linder. Jugend, Sweden early 1900s. In good condition, smaller sign of age and wear.
Copper
Tabacco Pot or Box 19th Majolica Tobacco Jar France Green and Red Color
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Tabacco box, Pot in Majolica with brass. Leaf Decor pattern. Brown Green and Red color. It has been made in France circa 19th century.
Majolica
French Art Nouveau Period Sterling Silver Pill Box
Located in New York, NY
A small French sterling silver pill box, Art Nouveau period, decorated with flowers and a gold gilt interior, circa late-19th century, France. Piece ...
Sterling Silver
Sold
H 3.15 in W 2.76 in D 0.63 in
Art Nouveau Silver Cigarette Case, Camaieu Portrait of a Girl, Vienna, ca. 1900
Located in Vienna, AT
Exquisite Austrian Art-Nouveau Tabatière, Around 1900: Rectangular smooth silver cigarette case with hinged lid, iron-red camaieu enamel painting on top: portrait of a girl with laurel wreath, opening with snap fastener on the side, eyelets on the inside for attaching straps, interior gilding. Hallmarks: - Diana head in hexagon - Viennese official hallmark 1872 - 1922 for 900 silver - 'GAS' - Master's sign of GEORG ADAM SCHEID: Authorization 1862, gold and silver jewelery manufacturer, knight of the Franz Joseph Order, production of gold and silver arts and crafts, jewelery and enamel goods, participation in trade exhibitions such as in the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry, as well as in the Paris World Exhibition in 1900. Bibliography: Waltraud Neuwirth, Viennese gold and silversmiths and their hallmarks, Vienna 1976, vol. II, L-Z, page 178-180 - Crescent + crown + 900 - German imperial silver...
Sterling Silver
Sold
H 2.17 in W 2.37 in D 0.67 in
Art Nouveau Silver Pillbox, Camaieu Portrait of a Girl, Vienna, ca. 1900
Located in Vienna, AT
Exquisite Austrian Art-Nouveau silver box, Around 1900: Triangular silver pill box in a smooth finish with a hinged lid, on the top camaieu enamel painting in iron red: Portrait of ...
Sterling Silver
Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Cigarette Case Connell, London, 1902
By George Lawrence Connell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Art Nouveau sterling silver cigarette case London 1902, George Lawrence Connell. Rectangular concave form, the front with art nouveau stylised decoration in relief, interior lightly ...
Sterling Silver
Sold
H 8.5 in W 4.7 in D 4.7 in
Art Nouveau Ceramic/ Tobacco Box With Playing Card Symbols, Austria circa 1900
Located in Lichtenberg, AT
Unusual ceramic box/ tobacco box out of Austria from the beginning of the 20th century. An extraordinary worked box from around 1900 showing the playing cards symbols "hearts", "spad...
Ceramic