Art Nouveau fireplace of the School of Nancy, ca. 1900.

Art Nouveau fireplace of the Nancy School, ca. 1900.
Marble finish composition stone.
Interior decorated with glass.
Measurements: 117 x 148 x 43 cm.

Fireplace belonging to the so-called "School of Nancy", a prolific French artistic center that brought together intellectuals and artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and adopted Art Nouveau as a form of artistic expression. This predilection for the Art Nouveau style, which was initiated by the most reputable architects, cabinetmakers and glaziers of the time, can be seen in the organically inspired design of this fireplace, with the stone carved in the form of waves and vegetable delicuescences in the form of coups-de-fuet, distributed symmetrically around the front of the furniture. The molded base and top have a sinuous profile in keeping with the organic design of the whole.

The stone has a mottled finish in ochre and orange tones that contribute to its beauty and demonstrate the predilection of these craftsmen for the use of materials of the highest quality.

The history of the creation of the Ecole de Nancy dates back to 1871 when, after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire took control of the always disputed provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, with the exception of a territory in which the city of Nancy was located. Consequently, thousands of inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine, who did not want to live under the German yoke, emigrated to the city of Nancy, causing its population to increase and numerous artists, intellectuals, industrialists and merchants to settle there, which caused a real revival of the old city. At the artistic level, names such as Gallé and Vallin a Majorelle, Daum, Gruber and many others, who based their works on the observation and reproduction of the elements of nature, stood out.