Paon, An Enamelled Silver, Glass and Gilded Flask
By Eugène Feuillâtre, circa 1900
With original glass stopper, stamped on the underside Feuillâtre
8 ½ in (21.6 cm) high, 4 ½ in (11.4 cm) wide
Provenance
Lotar and Vera Neumann Collection, Switzerland
Exhibited
Exposition Universelle, 1900
'Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939',
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 14th April 2012 – 19th August 2012, Carnegie Museum of Art, 13th October 2012 – 24th February 2013, New Orleans Museum of Art, 12th April 2013 – 21st July 2013
Literature
Roger Marx, La Décoration et les Industries d'Art à l'Exposition Universelle de 1900, p. 95
Alastair Duncan, The Paris Salons 1895-1914, Volume V: Objets d'Art & Metalware, p. 252
Phillippe Garner, The Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts 1890-1940, p. 95
Georges de Bartha, L'Art 1900: La Collection Neumann, p. 128
M.M. L. Benedite, J. Cornely, Exposition Universelle de 1900: Les Beaux-Arts et les Arts Decoratifs, p. 510
Jason T. Busch and Catherine L. Futter, eds., Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939, 2012, p.196
Born in Dunkirk in 1870, Feuillâtre was apprenticed as a goldsmith at the age of 18, studying with the enamellers Etienne Tourette and Louis Houillon. He started experimenting with enamels and worked with other designers, most notably René Lalique. From 1890 to 1897 he was the director of Lalique’s enamel workshop. He then opened his own shop in 1898 located at 3 rue de Villedo, Paris. That same year, Feuillâtre exhibited at the Salon de Société des Artistes Français and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs purchased one his pieces called Poppies. Commenting on one of his early exhibits at the Paris Salon in 1898, the periodical Art et Decoration noted that he was already working in the difficult techniques of plique-à-jour – a form of cloisonné in which the back or ground is affixed temporarily in the process of working and is removed after firing. In 1899 he exhibited at La Libre Esthetique in Brussels and at the New Gallery in London along with Lalique and Fouquet. From 1899-1910, Feuillâtre became a member of the Société des Artistes Français and exhibited with them. In 1900, he exhibited and won a gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle. He also exhibited at the Turin Exposition of 1902.
Feuillâtre became famous for his skill as an enameller, his technical experimentation and for the highly original vases and boxes he produced between 1900 and 1910 in translucent enamel over silver. In 1914 he became a member of the newly founded Société des Artistes Decorateurs and exhibited until 1914 when he was enlisted to fight in World War I. Feuillâtre died in 1916, but his wife Lina continued to run the firm after his death.
This peacock is an excellent example of the skill and craftsmanship of Feuillâtre and its presence at the 1900 Paris Exposition brought him great acclaim.
