The art of Philippe Wolfers, 1858–1929

wolfers1.jpg

Maléficia (1905).

Much of the jewellery and sculpture produced by Phillipe Wolfers demonstrates the tendency of Art Nouveau and decorative Symbolism to evolve from Decadence to full-blown Gothic. The sinister recurs in Wolfers’ creations whether in the form of baleful females such as Malèficia and his Medusa pendant, or in the shape of bats, insects and the ubiquitous fin de siècle serpent. There’s more Wolfers on the web than there was a couple of years ago but still too little; I scanned Malèficia from a book and swiped the bat brooch belt buckle (also a book scan) from Beautiful Century.

wolfers2.jpg

Large dragonfly (1903–04).

wolfers3.jpg

Le Jour et la Nuit (1897).

Previously on { feuilleton }
Lalique’s dragonflies
Lucien Gaillard
The Masks of Medusa