Set of 12 French Art Deco Benjamin Rabier Animal Figurine Knife Rests

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Set of 12 French Art Deco Benjamin Rabier Animal Figurine Knife Rests

About the Item

Exceptional French Art Deco knife rests manufactured circa 1930-1935 based on the fables of La Fontaine and designed by Benjamin Rabier (a famous French cartoonist of the 1930s). Includes bird, fox, rabbit, rat, stork, wolf, frog. Jean de La Fontaine was a French poet and fabulist, who lived and worked during the 17th century. Published in 1668, the collection of fables brought La Fontaine international fame. The works of the ancient Greeks, Indian storytellers, other fabulists and folk tales about animals served as a source of inspiration for the author. When he first wrote his fables, La Fontaine had a sophisticated audience in mind. Nevertheless, fables were regarded as providing an excellent education in morals for children, each with an instruction how to behave correctly or how life should be lived. This set is based on the following fables: The wolf and the stork. The fox and the raven. The countryside rat and the city rat. The monkey and the cat. The cow and the frog. The cigal and the ant. The hare and the turtle. The wolf and the lamb. The cat, the rabbit and the weasel. The cat and the monkey. The wolf and the dog. One is unknown. The Art Deco style name was derived from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, where the style was first exhibited. Art Deco design represented modernism turned into fashion. Its products included both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced wares, but, in either case, the intention was to create a sleek and antitraditional elegance that symbolized wealth and sophistication. The distinguishing features of the style are shapes that ares geometric or stylized from representational forms and crafted out of often expensive materials, which frequently include man-made substances in addition to natural ones (jade, silver, obsidian, chrome, and rock crystal). Though Art Deco objects were rarely mass-produced, the characteristic features of the style reflected admiration for the modernity of the machine and for the inherent design qualities of machine-made objects Decorative ideas came from American Indian, Egyptian, and early classical sources as well as from nature. Characteristic motifs included nude female figures, animals, foliage, and sunrays, all in conventionalized forms. Most of the outstanding Art Deco creators designed individually crafted or limited-edition items. They included the furniture designers Jacques Ruhlmann the architect Eliel Saarinen; metalsmith Jean Puiforcat; glass and jewelry designer René Lalique; fashion designer Erté; and the figural sculptor Chiparus. Modernism, particularly the austere form we now associate with the Bauhaus, was developing among the avant garde designers as an intellectual expression of the age of the machine and technology. The pioneers of modernism had rejected market-led consumerism, instead aiming for mass-produced goods that concentrated on social utility and usefulness.

Creator:
Benjamin Rabier (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 1.97 in (5 cm)Width: 3.94 in (10 cm)Depth: 0.6 in (1.5 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 12
Style:
Art Deco (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Bronze,Silver Plate
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1930-1939
Date of Manufacture:
1930s
Condition:
light wear, one of the rabbit has lost one ear.
Seller Location:
Bremen, DE
Reference Number:
Seller: AMDA - 08901stDibs: LU97994604493