Thanks for all the extra research. It's much appreciated. The Brief History on the Etling project site was contributed and is lacking in many respects. I wrote an article for a recent edition of Glass Matters, the magazine of the Glass Society. Here is an extract from the article. It will be put on the new Etling site in due course.
A brief history
From what can be gleaned from the disparate literature, the company of Etling et Cie emerged about 1906 when Edmond Laurent Etling acquired Galerie Béranger at 158 Rue du Temple in Paris’ 3rd arrondissement. Sometime before the end of the First World War Edmond Etling died. The company was left to his widow Marthe who, around 1919, sold the business to Etling’s nephew, Julien Dreyfus. Under his direction Etling et Cie would become one of the most important and influential exponents of the Art Deco movement in Paris.
Dreyfus commissioned France’s top artists, sculptors, and industrial designers of the period, including Demétre Chiparus, Georges Béal, Lucille Sevin, Georges H. Laurent, Geneviève Granger, Marcel Guillard, Jean-Théodore Delabassé, and Géza Hiecz. Lucille Sevin and Geneviève Granger designed many of the figural vases and statuettes. Sevin’s women were distinctly classical in inspiration, while Granger’s models were more influenced by current fashions. Georges Béal designed many vases and bowls with floral and foliate motifs, with some pieces signed ‘Beal’ moulded in the glass. G.H. Laurent and Géza Hiecz produced many designs featuring birds, animal figures and even fish.
The company exhibited with great success at the landmark Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, further enhancing their prominence in the French decorative arts. Sometime after this exposition Etling et Cie moved to larger show rooms at 29 Rue de Paradis in the 10th arrondissement in northeast Paris.
The highly commercial success of Rene Lalique’s industrially produced moulded glass spurred countless other glassmakers to follow in his footsteps to produce similar glass, including Etling. Etling’s glass was primarily opalescent or frosted; coloured pieces are rare. Etling engaged a glass works at Choisy-le-Roi on the outskirts of Paris to realise their glass designs. However, the signatures 'Richard' or 'Richard et cie' in better quality pieces were used on cameo glass made by Loetz for Etling from 1921 onwards. Apparently, the orders for the cameo glass were handled by J. Jouve, a firm trading in glass and other goods, located a few doors down from Etling's shop in rue de Paradis.
Sadly, Etling et Cie ceased to exist during the German occupation of France during World War II. It is believed that Julien Dreyfus met the same fate as other Jewish business owners who were stripped of their businesses and assets. The company ceased to exist from around 1942.
It should be noted that some Etling designs were re-issued after the war. These were unmarked, poorly finished, and produced in clear or frosted glass, but also sometimes in pastel colours such as pink, powder blue, green, yellow, and mauve. In the 1980s, Cristalleries de Sevres reissued two of Sevin’s nude figurines for Etling, from the original moulds, in clear glass. These were signed Cristal de Sevres.
Topic: Etling - chilternhills (Read 2068 times)
