Lucien Gaillard
Lucien Gaillard (1861 – 1942, both in Paris, France)[1][2] was a French goldsmith and jeweller, who worked in the art nouveau style.
Lucien Gaillard was born into a family of jewellers. His grandfather Amédée Alexandre Gaillard (1811-1882) founded a jewellery firm in Paris in 1840, which he then passed on to his son Ernest (1836-1909). Lucien Gaillard trained as an apprentice under his father, before taking over the business in 1892.[3] His brother Eugéne was also a well known art nouveau furniture designer.[3]
He was a contemporary of René Lalique.[3]
He won a prize for his jewellery at the 1889 Universal Exposition.[4] He was also a judge at the 1893 Universal Exposition in Chicago. In 1902 he was made a knight of the Legion of Honour.
He was deeply interested in Japanese art.[2] His workshop included artists who travelled from Japan to work in ivory and lacquer.[4] He also worked in copper.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/%22Moth%22_Pendant_and_Box_MET_DT4659.jpg/200px-%22Moth%22_Pendant_and_Box_MET_DT4659.jpg)
His workshop produced vases, cane heads, hair combs, pins and pendants as well as more traditional jewellery, often inspired by floral or animal motifs.[2] The animal motifs included bees, butterflies, dragonflies and snakes. He was known for using only a single motif per item.[5] Sometimes, when making insect wings, he used a technique called plique-à-jour, where enamel is not applied to a metal base, but rather set in a gossamer thin wire framework to produce the effect of insect wings.[6]
Around 1910, the Gaillard workshop began to work in glass, including collaborations with several perfume houses, including Geldy and Corday.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Perfume_bottle_MET_sf.1981.512.3ab.jpg/220px-Perfume_bottle_MET_sf.1981.512.3ab.jpg)
The work of Gaillard and his workshop are on display in the Musée D'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum and the V&A museum.[7][8][9]
References
- ^ "Musée d'Orsay: Artists - biographical notes". www.musee-orsay.fr. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ a b c "Musée d'Orsay: Lucien Gaillard Hawthorn". www.musee-orsay.fr. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ a b c "Lucien Gaillard | "Moth" Pendant and Box | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ a b "Gaillard - AJU". www.langantiques.com. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ "Jewellery Sales: Important Jewels, Christie's London-Telegraph". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ "Comb in the form of two dragonflies, Lucien Gaillard, c. 1904". Rijksmuseum. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ^ "Musée d'Orsay: Collections catalogue - search results". www.musee-orsay.fr. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ "Collection". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
- ^ "Pendant | Gaillard, Lucien | V&A Search the Collections". V and A Collections. 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-10-20.