(right) Fire-screen in wrought iron, 1920s. (below) ‘L’Oasis’ five-panel screen, in collaboration with Henri Favier, wrought iron with gilt-metal applications, exhibited at the 1925 Exposition Internationale, Paris (see opposite page, top).
‘L’Âge d’Or’ doorway, the latter being a virtuoso work in pierced wrought iron adorned at its centre with gilt-bronze Classical figures. The apparent ease with which Brandt transformed a bar of pig iron into the most ephemeral flower spray belied the material’s innate lack of malleability, yet he succeeded in taming it, making it at once robust and plastic, bold and frivolous. His dexterity is amply shown in the facility with which he interchanged materials; most frequently, in the 1920s, wrought iron and bronze, with more ambitious works enhanced with gilt-copper motifs that provided a light accent of richness. Later came steel, aluminium and, around 1934, the alloy ‘Studal’. Occasional collaborators included the sculptors Max Blondat and Badory, and the metalworkers Pierre Lardin and Gilbert *Poillerat. Ancillary materials were ordered from the period’s foremost manufacturers: glassware from daum
frères; porcelain from the Sèvres manufactory; and crystal from Pantin. Marble and alabaster,
(above) View of Brandt’s stand on the Esplanade des Invalides at the 1925 Exposition Internationale, Paris.
for lampshades and the tops of consoles, were shipped from Italy.
(right) Potiche in silvered bronze, the model included in Brandt’s stand at the 1925 Exposition Internationale, Paris (above).
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silver, metal, lacquer and enamel | edgar brandt
silver, metal, lacquer and enamel | edgar brandt
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