In the early 1920s, Daum Nancy was renowned for its highly original production of glassware with clean lines and applied decorations. This period represented a major turning point in the aesthetics of the company's creations – abandoning the classic forms and decorations of the widely diffused Art Nouveau movement to embrace the lines of what would become Art Deco.

The works in this series are distinguished by their apparent simplicity, the transparency of their materials and the use of a refined decor with marked black outlines, reminiscent of the fashion and design aesthetics of the time, such as those of Paul Poiret (1879-1944) or Paul Iribe (1883-1935). These pieces, while remaining faithful to Daum's taste for floral and fruit motifs, reinterpret them in a stylized, geometric way. Far from the abundant, colorful decorations of Art Nouveau, they testify to a more radical creative process, in which the material, less ornate, is highlighted in its purity, and is part of a more sober, modern approach.

 

Hot-application work, a complex and delicate technique, remains one of the highest expressions of glass art. Unlike other materials such as ceramics, glass is only handled when it is still malleable, which requires perfect mastery of the heating and handling process. Adding applications to an already-formed piece requires successive reheating and precise assembly, conditions that make these creations particularly rare.

 

This most accomplished series embodies the moment of transition between two great artistic periods: Art Nouveau, which ran out of steam after the war, and Art Deco, which emerged in the 1920s. While these pieces are neither entirely Art Nouveau nor yet fully Art Deco, they lay the foundations for what was to become modernity, in harmony with the Art Deco Couture spirit emerging at the time – with which they share refinement and simplicity.

Already very rare at the time of their creation, this production is even rarer today, due to the vagaries of time and the preservation of these extremely fragile pieces. Few museums preserve works from this precious series – such as the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris or the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy. As a result, the set presented here stands out for its preciousness and the rarity of such a collection.