Gilt Bronze Paper Cut - Maurice Frécourt - Period: Early 20th Century

Gilt bronze paper cup showing an eagle with outstretched wings.

Maurice Frécourt began working in 1890, a date often wrongly given as his birth date. 
His youth and enthusiasm enabled him to make a name for himself in the bronze arts of the Belle Époque. 

But it was from the 1920 Salon onwards that he gained fame and prestige, successfully translating the hieratic imperatives of the Art Deco style into his vision of the animal world. 

His variations on the elephant, panther and monkey have become classics of stylised animal representation.

Period: Early 20th Century
Dimensions : Length: 26.5cm x width: 3cm
Signature : FRÉCOURT

Letter openers have been used in many societies throughout history. It is an emblematic object for the literary and other assiduous readers. In the days when books were simply handmade assemblies of sheets of paper, some pairs of pages were left intact, making it impossible to read their contents. 

The paper cutter was indispensable at the time; its long, thin blade slid along the edge to separate the pages.

But the letter opener was also used for more original purposes. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, the artists of Dadaism used this object to choose the name of their movement. To do this, they slipped the utensil into a dictionary at random, and selected a word from the pages that the letter opener opened: "dada".

Today, the letter opener is still used to separate the pages of old books, but its most common use is to open letters or envelopes.

Elegant on your desk, or tucked away on a shelf, the letter opener will not go unnoticed and will reveal your taste for refined aesthetics.