Jean Dunand, Parfum

Jean-Charles Worth, Paris

Private Collection

Sotheby's Monaco, September 24, 1978, lot 229

Alain Lesieutre, Paris

Tajan Paris, Collection Alain Lesieutre, December 13, 1989, lot 282

Private Collection

Christie’s King Street, 16th February 1994, Lot 425A

Acquired from the above by the present owner

L'Illustration, Paris, May 1933, p. 30

L’Art Déco en Europe, exh. cat., Société des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1989, front cover and p. 67, no. 18

Félix Marcilhac, Jean Dunand: His Life and Works, London, 1991, p. 264, no. 578

Victor Arwas, Art Deco, London, 1992, front cover

Félix Marcilhac and Amélie Marcilhac, Jean Dunand, Paris, 2020, p. 253, no. 93

Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1927, no. 42

L’Art Déco en Europe, Société des Expositions du Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 3 March – 28 May 1989

Jean Dunand’s path to becoming a master in lacquer began when he met the acclaimed Japanese artist Seizo Sugawara in 1912. Seeking to learn more about dinanderie, Sugawara offered to teach Dunand the art of lacquer if he would teach Sugawara about dinanderie in return. This fortuitous exchange set Dunand on the path to become one of the preeminent lacquer artists of the twentieth century, eventually setting up his own famed lacquer workshop. His brilliant dexterity in the medium is most evident in his lacquer portraits, as exemplified by the current work. 

His exploration and mastery of lacquer work garnered attention of various patrons and led to many important commissions such as the interiors of the Normandie ocean liner and the noted San Francisco apartment of Templeton Crocker. Dunand’s striking and elegant works also found favor with the most important fashion couturiers of his time, such as Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Jean-Charles Worth. The present panel, Parfum, was originally acquired by Jean-Charles Worth, whose grandfather founded the illustrious House of Worth fashion house. Assuming the role of chief designer in the 1910s, Jean-Charles Worth is credited with introducing simple forms and sleek designs to the fashion house epitomizing Art Deco fashion. Images of Jean-Charles Worth circa 1930, around the time the current work was acquired, were taken by Man Ray and are in the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris. The close collaboration and working relationship between Worth and Dunand is evidenced by clothing designed by Dunand for the House of Worth, a fascinating link between the designer and couturist, and design and fashion. Examples include a remarkable Woman’s Cape, with characteristic Dunand fish worked in metallic thread, now in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

The present work was selected by Worth for his own home in Neuilly on the outskirts of central Paris. The imagery of the panel is amongst the most evocative of the Art Deco era, the slender stylized sitter adorned with geometric jewelry as elaborately decorated drapery, reminiscent of the work by Dunand for the House of Worth, contours her body. Resting in the figure’s hand a large perfume bottle releases swirls of vapors. This resplendent and striking panel, held in a private collection for thirty years, is a summation both the celebrated talents of Dunand and his ability to capture a moment of ethereal reflection that encapsulates the Art Deco style.