Gabriel Argy-Rousseau “Les palombes” Pâte de Verre Glass Vase
Regular price
$29,500
In this modernist Art Deco piece by Argy Rousseau, eight white doves in cameo glass gracefully soar among a skyline of skyscrapers. The buildings are depicted in the iconic setback style, a hallmark of Art Deco architecture where structures recede at higher levels, creating a tiered or "wedding cake" effect. This distinctive design emerged in New York City, shaped by the 1916 Zoning Resolution—the first citywide zoning law in the United States. This legislation was a response to public concerns over the looming Equitable Building in Manhattan's Financial District. To preserve light and air at street level, the resolution mandated setbacks for taller buildings.
With the rise of skyscrapers, pigeons adapted seamlessly to the urban environment. Escaping from captivity, they found ideal nesting sites in the crevices of towering structures, much like the cliffs their ancestors once inhabited. Argy Rousseau’s vase design encapsulates the interplay of nature and modernity, illustrating a world where humanity has reshaped the environment. Pigeons have been reimagined as doves, symbols of peace and elegance, while the skyline is dominated by the pyramidal crowns of steel and concrete towers, celebrating the triumph of human innovation.
Item #: YG-21727
Artist: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau
Country: France
Circa: 1932
Dimensions: 7.5" height, 4" diameter.
Materials: Pâte de verre glass
Signed: G. Argy-Rousseau and France on the base.
Literature: A similar vase is pictured in: G. Argy Rousseau: Glassware as Art, by Janine Bloch-Dermant, London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1991, p. 223, cat. no. 32.05.
Item #: YG-21727
Artist: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau
Country: France
Circa: 1932
Dimensions: 7.5" height, 4" diameter.
Materials: Pâte de verre glass
Signed: G. Argy-Rousseau and France on the base.
Literature: A similar vase is pictured in: G. Argy Rousseau: Glassware as Art, by Janine Bloch-Dermant, London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1991, p. 223, cat. no. 32.05.
Actually born Gabriel Rousseau, the famed maker changed his moniker to include the first four letters of his wife's last name upon their marriage, and signed all of his pieces as "Argy-Rousseau." Gabriel Argy-Rousseau's wife was a woman of Greek heritage, whose worldliness greatly influenced and broadened the artist's practice, particularly in his inclusion of patterning that resemble Greek friezes, as we can see here.
Actually born Gabriel Rousseau, the famed maker changed his moniker to include the first four letters of his wife's last name upon their marriage, and signed all of his pieces as "Argy-Rousseau." Gabriel Argy-Rousseau's wife was a woman of Greek heritage, whose worldliness greatly influenced and broadened the artist's practice, particularly in his inclusion of patterning that resemble Greek friezes, as we can see here.
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