Philippe Wolfers (16 April 185813 December 1929) was a Belgian silversmith,

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmithing, goldsmithing, stone setting, engraving, ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

medallist A medalist (or medallist) is an artist who designs medals, plaquettes, badges, metal medallions, coins and similar small works in relief in metal. Historically, medalists were typically also involved in producing their designs, and were usually e ...

and designer. His mature work belongs to the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style, while in his later years his work aligned with

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

. As a jewel designer, he was less prolific than his French contemporary

René Lalique René Jules Lalique (; 6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments. Life Lalique ...

. Nevertheless his "exemplaire unique" series of jewelry is among the finest jewelry created in Art Nouveau. Wolfers is also known for his sculptures, decorative objects and tableware executed in precious materials such as silver, bronze, ivory and marble. He also designed vases and objects in glass and faience.

Early life and education

Philippe Wolfers was the son of Louis Wolfers (1820–1892) who led the family firm "Wolfers frères", silversmith and court jeweler in Brussels. The young man entered the family business as an apprentice in 1875. He studied sculpture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels and with Isidore De Rudder. With his father, Philippe undertook many study trips through Europe, visiting the world exhibitions in Vienna (1873) and Paris (1889). Like many of his contemporaries, he was influenced by

Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...

. Inspired by the influx of Japanese art in Europe during the 1870s, Wolfers transitioned from stiff, ornamental designs to more realistic portrayals of nature, integrating Japanese aesthetics into his work.

Design director at "Wolfers frères"

After the death of his father in 1892, Philippe Wolfers, with his brothers Max and Robert, took over the family firm and became its design director. In this role, he introduced silverware in an

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

style, such as the ''Orchidées'' ("Orchids") fruit bowl from 1894 and one of his vases from around 1896 exhibited at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. During this period, he began incorporating organic materials like ivory, carnelian, opal, and tourmaline, with artisans skillfully carving these into intricate floral and animal forms, which became a signature of his unique Art Nouveau creations. File:Philippe_wolfers,_fruttiera_orchidee,_1894.jpg, ''Orchidées'' ("Orchids") fruit bowl, silver (1894) File:Philippe Wolfers-vase orchidée.jpg, ''Orchidée'' ("Orchid") flower pot, glazed earthenware (1897)

Wolfers' "exemplaires uniques"

Between 1898 and 1907, Wolfers produced some 130 unique pieces of jewelry. Each piece was inscribed with the words EX.UNIQUE (for "exemplaire unique") and his initials. They were intended to show the artist's craftsmanship and were submitted to important national and international exhibitions. These unique jewels were already extremely expensive at the time. Pieces that remained unsold were disassembled after some time and the precious metals and gemstones were reused to make new pieces of jewelry. This makes this type of exclusive jewelry extremely rare today. Only about 20 pieces still exist. One of his "ex. unique" brooches sold for over £23,000 at a

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought t ...

auction in 2012. The ''Glycines'' choker which he created for the Paris World's Fair in 1900 was sold at Christie's Geneva in 2016 for 257,000 CHF. File:Philippe Wolfers, Plumes de Paon, KMKG-MRAH.jpg, ''Plumes de Paon'' ("Peacock Feathers"), belt buckle by Wolfers (1898) File:Philippe Wolfers, Oiseaux et Iris (1899) 02.jpg, ''Oiseaux et Iris'' ("Birds and Iris") decorative hair comb (1899) File:Philippe Wolfers for Wolfers Frères - Swan pendant - 1901 - KMKG.jpg, Swan pendant (1901) File:Philippe Wolfers - Libelle (1902).jpg, ''Libelle'' ("Dragonfly"), pendant made of gold,

opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

, enamel,

rubies Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphi ...

and diamonds (1902) File:Philippe Wolfers, Niké (1902), KMKG-MRAH.jpg, ''Niké'' brooch (1902)

Honours

* 1923 : commander in the Order of the Crown.

Royal order In Belgium, a royal decree (RD) or royal order ( in Dutch, arrêté royal in French, or königlicher Erlass in German) is a federal government decree implementing legislation, or exercising powers the legislature has delegated to the crown as se ...

of 21 July 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfers, Philippe 1858 births 1929 deaths Belgian silversmiths Belgian jewellers Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Art Nouveau designers