The Collection of Art Déco Medals formed by Paul Fellerman

Foreword

Although Art Déco took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held in Paris in 1925, the diverse styles that characterised it had already appeared in Paris and Brussels before World War I. At its birth between 1910 and 1914, Art Déco was an explosion of colours, featuring bright and often clashing hues, frequently in floral designs, presented in furniture upholstery, carpets, screens, wallpaper and fabrics. In many ways, from architecture to the medals themselves, it was the successor to Art Nouveau, the style which had flourished in Europe from the late 1880s.


The event that marked the zenith of the style, and gave it its name, was the exhibition which took place in Paris exactly 100 years ago, from April to October 1925. In the planning stage since 1922, it was officially sponsored by the French government and covered a site of 55 acres. There were 15,000 exhibitors from 20 different countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the new Soviet Union. Germany was not invited because of tensions after the War; the United States, misunderstanding the purpose of the event, declined to participate. Visited by 16 million people, its main purpose was to promote the French manufacturers of luxury furniture, porcelain, glass, metalwork, textiles, and other decorative products, but an important secondary purpose was to publicise products from French colonies in Africa and Asia.


The medals in the following 184 lots, the work of over 65 artists, include many pieces regarded as classics by collectors and students of the genre. Among them one may note Cypris by Claude Mascaux (Lot 316), the first medal issued by the go-ahead Société des Amis de la Médaille française, Norman Bel Geddes’ 25th anniversary of the founding of General Motors (Lot 236), Paul Dammann’s Nike and L’Offrande (Lots 247-8), and the medal no self-respecting serious collection of Art Déco medals should be without, André Lavrillier’s Léda and the Swan (Lot 303). But there are many other pieces here to delight and amuse, which we have illustrated on plates at the back of the catalogue. Enjoy them!
P.J.P-M.