Bowl

This hammered bowl displays the simple geometric volumes and plain surfaces characteristic of Jean Despres’s avant-garde design. As a young man, Despres became acquainted with avant-garde artists and makers in Paris, including Jean Dunand, Marie Laurencin, Rose Adler, and Georges Braque. This bowl reflects the development of modernism in metal work. When Despres joined his family’s jewelry business, he transformed the new angular and geometric forms of the machine-age into jewelry, tableware, and decorative objects for the Parisian elite. The designer’s modern and artistic designs were popular during his lifetime and after; notable collectors included the singer Josephine Baker, who was an early admirer, and the pop artist Andy Warhol.