Lot 1586 Dα

The Genêts model was presented at the Salon de la Nationale in Paris in May 1913, together with a large array of other vases in various metals. In the same year, Jean Dunand, together with other French artisans, was given the opportunity to equip display cases on the transatlantic steamer "France", and he once again chose this vase for the commission.
Within the initial days following the outbreak of WWI, one of Dunand's most important collaborators and godfather of his son Bernard, François-Louis Schmied, born in 1908, was severely wounded and lost an eye. Schmied was responsible for the production of the wooden models over which Dunand's vases were embossed. His friend's injury prompted the versatile Jean Dunand to develop a helmet with integrated eye protection. In any case, the tragic accident may have been one of the reasons why Dunand shifted his production from chased and engraved designs to the manufacture of inlaid and painted metal objects. After World War I, Jean Dunand became the most important European lacquer designer of the Art Deco period.