François Charles de Franoz

FRANÇOIS CHARLES DE FRANOZ (1856-1908).
Iris and poppies" tabletop centerpiece, ca.1904..
Silver-plated pewter.
Signed and dated
Marks on the back.
Exhibited at the 1904 Paris Salon.
Weight: 12.300 g.
Bibliography: Philippe DAHHAN, Étains 1900, 200 Sculpteurs de la Belle Époque, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2000, reproduced p. 164, fig. 458.
Measurements: 34 x 37 x 32 cm.

Important Art Nouveau tabletop centerpiece made in silver-plated pewter by François Charles de Franoz, one of the most outstanding figures of French decorative sculpture at the beginning of the 20th century.
The reverse preserves the handwritten inscription "C. de Franoz - Salon de 1904", confirming its exhibition at the Paris Salon of 1904, one of the main international showcases of art and decorative arts of the time. This fact gives the piece a remarkable historical value, placing it in the context of the public consecration of Art Nouveau in France.

This piece is part of a private collection of Art Nouveau centerpieces and vases that we are presenting for bidding, assembled over five decades, between the 1950s and the turn of the millennium, which constitutes an exceptional testimony to the refinement and modernity that defined the Belle Époque.

This work adopts an organic and enveloping form, with a volumetric body richly modeled by means of an exuberant continuous vegetal relief. The decorative program is articulated around iris and poppies, emblematic flowers of the symbolist and modernist repertoire, treated with a naturalistic sensibility characteristic of French Art Nouveau. Undulating stems, ribbed leaves and open corollas merge with the structure of the vessel, blurring the boundary between function and ornamentation.
The side handles, conceived as vegetal extensions topped by flowers in full bloom, reinforce the ascending dynamism of the composition and provide a sculptural reading from all angles. The modeling is deep and fluid, with a play of polished and nuanced surfaces that enhance the effects of light on the metal, underlining the technical and artistic quality of the work.

François Charles de Franoz belongs to the generation of sculptors and designers who, around 1900, elevated tin from a utilitarian material to an artistic medium in its own right, in line with creators such as Jules Desbois and Alexandre Charpentier. His works stand out for their synthesis of technical virtuosity, naturalistic inspiration and a sculptural conception of the decorative object.