Léon Kann

LÉON KANN (1859 - Dambach-la-Ville, 1925).
Vase, ca. 1900.
Patinated bronze.
Signed on the lower front.
Siot foundry stampof Paris.
Weight: 2,200 g.
Measurements: 31 x 14 x 13 cm.

Original Art Nouveau bronze vase with brown patina. Ovoid body with elongated neck. Walls decorated all around with a motif in the form of scales and leaves in relief.

Léon Kann studied sculpture with Aimé Millet and the renowned animalier sculptor Pierre Louis Rouillard. After concentrating on small decorative pieces that he exhibited at the Salons, he joined the Sèvres Porcelain Factory as a designer between 1896 and 1915. At Sèvres, he was part of the select group convened by artistic director Alexander Sandier to innovate in the Art Nouveau style (alongside figures such as Hector Guimard). Kann's designs, which perfectly captured the spirit of the times, were inspired by the natural forms and mottled glazes of Asian ceramics. Kann excelled as a master at artistically incorporating the parts of a plant, creating coiled tendril-like handles in naturalistic forms.

Siot was a French artistic foundry active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Paris. Family of foundrymen: Edmond-Gustave Siot (1841-1908) married Elise Decauville in 1865 and established himself as an artistic foundryman under the name of Siot-Decauville; between 1888 and 1891, he was associated with the foundryman Léon Perzinka, under the firm Siot et Perzinka; specialist in colored patinas; at his death, he was succeeded by his widow and son Paul.