Unusual French Victorian Bronze Wire Wall Cone or Wall Bouquet Holder

Details

Description

An unusual and finely executed hand-wrought bronze wire wall pocket or bouquet holder, dating to the late 19th or early … Read more An unusual and finely executed hand-wrought bronze wire wall pocket or bouquet holder, dating to the late 19th or early 20th century, of likely French origin. The form comprises a long tapering cone woven from interlaced bronze wire, terminating in a pointed finial constructed of what appears to be polished horn, celluloid, or early thermoplastic, framed by a twisted bronze wire collar. The overall construction reflects a high degree of artisanal wirework skill, consistent with both American folk-industrial craft and the Central European tradition of decorative household wirework known as Drahtarbeit.

The upper collar is composed of interlooped bronze wire in a flattened, scalloped weave, forming a stiffened mouth with geometric regularity. A rear twisted bronze wire loop provides for wall-mounting, suggesting it functioned as a wall bouquet holder, towel cone, or possibly a decorative sconce for dried flowers or other lightweight contents.

The interlaced structure of the body, created from a repeated looped lattice of patinated bronze wire, is structurally and visually aligned with similar decorative wire baskets and sconces produced both in Central Europe (notably Austria and Germany) and in rural parts of the northeastern United States during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. While the technique of looped wirework and basketry is more frequently documented in European ethnographic museums—particularly in Bohemia and the Tyrol—examples of related bronze or copper wirework wall cones have also been attributed to New England wirework craftsmen and folk artisans, particularly those working within domestic or workshop contexts in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York around 1880–1910.

Measures:
5.125" w (mouth), 12.25" h, 13.375" h (with hanger). See less