MARGUERITE DE BAYSER-GRATRY (1881-1975) Cup with lid, unique piece, our entry in the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, Paris,1932 Large circular box with domed lid. The rim of the base and the rim of the top have a protrusion that forms a bead when the two parts are paired. Egyptian marble-onyx. A small chip glued to the edge of the central projection. Height: 11cm - Diameter: 20.5cm Provenance: Artist's family. Exhibitions: - 19th Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, Paris,1932 - Our work presented at this event. - Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry (1881-1975) - Sculptures - Galerie De Bayser, Paris, October 21 to November 5, 2005. Our work presented at this event. Bibliography: - Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, Paris,1932 - Catalogue of this event. Works by Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry cited (several onyx and marble vases) in this publication. - Jessie Michel- Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry, femme sculpteur (1881-1975)- Catalogue raisonné - Éditions Mare & Martin, Paris, 2010. Our work reproduced on page 23, referenced and reproduced as no. 1 on page 134 in the Coupe avec couvercle chapter of the catalog raisonné and featured in an archive photograph taken at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs reproduced on page 291. Marguerite de BAYSER-GRATRY(1881-1975) Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry's vocation was decided by serendipity, but it was hard work and a passion for her art and materials that led to her remarkable destiny as a sculptor1. The importance of his work can be measured by the aesthetic richness and quality of his creations, themselves marked by their great variety, in terms of both subject matter and materials. The typology of her works ranges from early realist works to portraits, decorative objects, colonial sculpture and religious statuary, not forgetting animal sculpture, which made her a household name and where she particularly asserted herself. Throughout her long career, Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry gave free rein to her explorations of form and material, in a perfectionist - and by definition perpetual - quest for stylization and essentiality. The artist began modelling in clay by chance, to counteract her boredom. Her affluent background enabled her to devote herself totally to her art. With neither time nor money to spare, and no need to sell her work, this self-taught artist soon became a renowned sculptor. Presenting her sculptures at numerous salons, she was soon recognized for the quality of her work. The realistic creations of her early years were followed by works that were already full of her own identity. Gradually moving towards a stylization of form and the elimination of all superfluous elements, her style was confirmed through encounters and travels. As soon as he arrived in Paris in 1915, the artist began to create increasingly refined figures. Her first trip to Egypt, five years later, reinforced this trend and was a revelation for the artist, who found in the language of Egyptian art, particularly that of the 4th Dynasty, a new approach to her work. Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry remained forever fascinated by the geometry and purity of ancient Egyptian statuary, and decided to use this symmetry as a guide to shape the features of her own sculptures. It was also in Egypt that she discovered stones rarely used in the West, which she used regularly, notably for her decorative works. In Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry's body of work, the portion devoted to the decorative arts spans a short period of her career, essentially during the 1920s - a time when the artist was searching for her style. These works - mainly vases - feature simple, elegant forms in a variety of materials, often rare and precious. The balance that emerges from these objects is particularly linked to Egyptian art, which revealed the artist's methodology. The formal sobriety of Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry's decorative objects stems directly from her approach to materials, which she took great care to select. It's easy to see the decorative effect that the sculptor sought to create by highlighting the particularities of the materials she worked with. The simplicity of the forms and the quality of the materials used in these works make them key witnesses to the sculptor's stylistic orientation. These "af