Byzantine Cross Signed Alfred Louis-achille Daguet (1875-1942)

Large Byzantine Cross from the Art Nouveau period around 1900 created by the famous artist Alfred-Louis-Achille DAGUET (1875-1942) signed with his AD monogram located in the decor. Procession model with brassware structure composed of silver leaf, brass, incised and embossed copper enriched with inlays of moonstones, opals and colored glass cabochons. A refined "Christ in Majesty" with a crowned head dressed in a long chiseled bronze perizonium in Gothic style resting on a gilded bronze base finely chiseled with warheads and rosettes, note the presence of a wall hanging ring ( removable base). Good condition, dimensions: 65.5 cm high X 38 cm.

Alfred-Louis-Achille Daguet was born in 1875 and was a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme. Daguet appeared in Paris in 1900 and began to make a name for himself on the local art scene. Working in a workshop above Siegfried Bing's famous L'Art Nouveau boutique, Daguet made all manner of intricate works from silver, brass, copper, wood and glass cabochons. Stylistically, Daguet blended the extravagance of French Art Nouveau, the personalized craftsmanship of British Arts & Crafts, and the dreamlike ornamentation of 19th-century Symbolist art. During the Paris Salon of 1903 and 1904, Daguet presented seven works in the exhibition, which showcased his prodigious talent as a coppersmith applied to hinged boxes, mantel clocks and other objects. Besides flowers and foliage, Daguet liked to decorate the panels of his designs with creatures such as eagles, bats, butterflies, elephants, fish and lobsters. At the twilight of Art Nouveau Daguet moved his workshop to rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques and eventually found important clients such as the actors Sarah Bernhardt, for whom he created a mirror frame in mixed metals, as well as Maurice and Lionel Barrymore. For the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français of 1910, Daguet presented metal works in a more modern style. Works by Daguet were exhibited at the Palais Galliera in Paris, not far from the Arc de Triomphe. At the start of the First World War, Daguet became a mechanic sergeant in the 2nd Aviation Group of the French Army. During his military service, Daguet produced approximately 2,000 sketches of French and foreign aircraft as well as aeronautical manufacturing posters. These works have been widely praised for their accurate depiction of technical details. After the armistice ending the war, an aeronautical exhibition in Paris in 1919 included a selection of Daguet's watercolors. Today, Daguet's aircraft drawings and paintings are kept at the Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget, north of Paris.
Littérature :
- Alastair Duncan 'Les Salons de Paris, 1895-1914', Volume V, Objets d'Art & Metalware, p.408. Antique Collectors Club Limited, Suffolk, 1999. P. 201-204.
- Les origines de l'Art Nouveau 'The Bing Empire', Edité par Gabriel P. Weisberg, Edwin Becker & Évelyne Posséné. Musée Van Gogh, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Mercatorfonds, Anvers, 2004. P.182 et 272.
- Margot Th. Brandlhuber et Michael Buhrs ; « Die Jugend der Moderne, Art Nouveau et Jugendstil, Meisterwerke aus Münchner privatbesitz », Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart, 2010.
P. 50, 363 364 475 533.
-Julius Hoffmann Jr. ; "Der Moderne Stil, Le style moderne, Jugendstil-Art Nouveau 1899-1905". Arnoldsche Art Editeurs, Stuttgart, 2006.