Gabriel Argy-Rousseau

GABRIEL ARGY-ROUSSEAU (France, 1885 - 1953).
"Libations Vase, ca. 1924.
Pâte de verre.
Signed on one side and inscribed "France" on the reverse.
With sterling silver foot and mouthpiece, with marks of the Mostany Llopart jewelry store in Barcelona.
Same vase model published in: Janine Bloch-Dermant, Les Pâtes de Verre: G. Argy-Rousseau, Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 1990, pp. 60-61, no. 24.01.
Shows marks of use and wear; a hair on the lower right side.
Measurements: 30 cm (vase height); 34 cm (total height).

Gabriel Argy-Rousseau's libation vase is inspired by Greek ritual vessels intended for libations, although its refined designs worked in relief follow an Art Deco aesthetic. A frieze of radial motifs is arranged in rows around the figure of an Egyptian-inspired offerer: a female bust holding an ointment vessel. The author freely mixes Greek and Egyptian references to assimilate them into his own Deco style in glass paste, a technique in which Argy-Rousseau gained notorious recognition in the interwar period. The artist developed his own formula of pâte de verre to create authentic museum pieces in which he achieved inimitable textures, colors and transparencies.

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.