Alexandre Clerget

ALEXANDRE CLERGET (France, 1856-1931),
Letter opener with sculpture. Art Nouveau, ca.1900.
Gilt bronze.
Signed and numbered.
With foundry stamp.
Shows wear and marks of use.
Measurements: 20,5 cm. length.

Letter opener with sculptural handle representing a nymph in modernist style, movement to which Clerget belonged. Born in Saint-Palais, Alexandre Clerget was a student of the sculptor Alexandre Falguiére (1831-1900). He exhibited at the Salon from 1889 to 1924, showing numerous busts in bronze and plaster and exhibiting several bronze sculptures from 1902. Most of his works were cast by the Siot-Decauville foundry, one of the most active casters and dealers of Art Nouveau bronze works in the early twentieth century; several of his works were also made by the Sévres factory in Sévres, France.