Style Art Nouveau / Ref.4747
Tony SELMERSHEIM, Art Nouveau Mantelpiece in Green Campan Marble, 1910
Dimensions
Width 58'' ¼ 148cm
Height 41'' 104cm
Depth: 15'' ⅜ 39cm
Inner width: 35'' 89cm
Inner height: 31'' ½ 80cm
Origin:
20th century
Status:
Good condition. Missing bronze parts
This highly original mantelpiece was carved in the Art Nouveau style in1910 by tony
Selmersheim, in Campan green marble.
The lintel is adorned with a vast curve imitating a pediment, ending at the corners in two
curves echoing the shape of the upper part of the jambs. The interior of the mantel is
highlighted by slightly mushroom-shaped curves, typical of Art Nouveau. The mantels are
recessed at right angles to the inside, and follow two arcs on the outside. The ornamentation
on the narrow sides is meticulous, echoing the curves underlining the cut-out jambs and
featuring a beautiful “whiplash” line.
This 1910 mantel was realized in Campan vert, a green marble with white veins. Green
Campan is one of several varieties of Campan marble, including Ribbon Campan marble,
Pink Campan and Campan Grand Mélange. It is quarried at the Campan site on the Payolle
plateau (hamlet Espiadet) in the upper Adour valley in the Hautes-Pyrénées. In the late 19th
and early 21st centuries, the green Campan variety became fashionable for cladding
interiors, buildings and other edifices abroad, such as the cathedrals of Westminster,
Peterborough and Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Joseph Paul Tony Selmersheim (1871-1971) was the designer of this mantel. He was a
20th-century French architect, decorator, furniture designer and cabinetmaker. In 1890, he
enrolled at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. To complement his courses,
he enrolled in Eugène Grasset's classes at the Ecole Guérin and attended the “Atelier des
Epinettes”, which trained art workers. In 1895, he founded and chaired the Société des cinq,
which in 1895 became the Société des six with Charles Plumet, and finally became L'Art
dans tout in 1897. This movement challenged the hierarchies between major and minor arts,
the compartmentalization between artistic, craft, and industrial production, and sought to
create a “social art”. In August 1903, Plumet and Selmersheim created the Ch. Plumet et
Tony Selmersheim company, which produced and sold furniture and decorative items. Tony
took over the business alone in 1904 and continued until 1938-39.
Throughout his career, Tony Selmersheim took part in numerous Salons. It was at the Salon
de l'Automne in 1910 that he exhibited this fireplace carved from his drawings. This fireplace
is exhibited as part of a bedroom. It was presented with a slightly curved decorated by
painter Charles Guérin, reminiscent of the Art Nouveau style. This style is reflected both in
the absence of any clear demarcation between the lintel and the legs (on the contrary, the
ornamentation is continuous) and in the plant-inspired lines running through the marble.
This fireplace could be appreciated for its “very personal” character, says Amédée Marandet
in the “Chronique artistique” section of the L'Aurore newspaper of May 13, 1911. Next to our
fireplace, another was exhibited designed by Tony Selmersheim for the dining room,
sculpted by Mr. Huve from a model by the sculptor Camille Lefèvre. After the 1910 Salon,
these two Tony Selmersheim’s rooms, including our fireplace, were exhibited again at the
1911 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs.
This mantel is sold with a brass interior adapted to this mantel, but without a fireback. This can be made to order (subject to marble availability).
Informations
Export certificate:
Available
Price: on request
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