Gabriel Argy-Rousseau

GABRIEL ARGY-ROUSSEAU (France, 1885 - 1953).
Vase "Guerrieres antiques", ca. 1930.
Pâte de verre.
Signed on one side and inscribed "France" on the reverse.
It shows marks of use and wear.
With sterling silver foot and mouthpiece, with marks of the Mostany Llopart jewelry store in Barcelona.
Same vase model published in: Bloch-Dermont, Les Pâtes de Verre G. Argy-Rousseau Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 1990, p. 221, no. 30.01.
Measurements: 31 cm (vase height); 36 cm (total height).

The "Ancient Warriors" vase by Gabriel Argy-Rousseau is an exceptional piece from the Art Deco period that combines technical mastery in pâte de verre (glass paste) and a historicist theme inspired by the representations of warriors as they were developed on Greek and Etruscan vases. Three figures worked in relief carry spears and shields and an abstract background simulates mountainous profiles. Argy-Rousseau combines a geometrizing figuration that essentializes ancient models while transferring the ancient technique of red figures to the language of glass paste, a technique in which he reached the highest peaks. The French artist uses the technique of pâte de verre with extraordinary precision to achieve colors and transparencies that enhance the details of the warriors. This technique, which involves melting glass in a mold to create complex shapes and textures, allows for visual effects of depth and luminosity, making the figures of the warriors seem to emerge from the glass.

Argy-Rousseau began drawing very early, and also at a very young age he became interested in physics and chemistry, which led him to study first at the École Brequet and later at the École de Sèvres (1902). He graduated in 1906 with a degree in ceramist engineering, and began working in a technical research laboratory. At the École de Sèvres he had met Henri Cros, a pioneer in the use of "pâte-de-verre", and soon his interests would focus on this technique. He devoted himself from then on to the production of artistic glass, and in 1914 he participated for the first time in the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris. He would soon achieve remarkable success, which led him to found his own artistic glass firm in 1921: Société Anonyme des Pâtes de Verre d'Argy-Rousseau. From then on, he produced pieces mainly to order, and patented several new techniques. His works were sold throughout Europe and also in the United States, North Africa and Latin America. However, the economic crisis of 1929-30 led him to close the factory and to establish himself as an independent artist in Paris in 1932. By this time stop using glass paste to focus on the production of enameled glass, more in line with the new taste.