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RARE 1937 International Art Exposition Jean Serriere Enamaled Jury Badge/Pin.
Extremely rare pin given to the Jury for the sculpture competition at the 1937 International Art Exposition in Paris.
Provenance:
This pin belonged to a friend of my mother-in-law's, Nina Embiricos. Nina started her study of sculpture around 1932, in the Paris studios of Costa Dimitriadis, -official sculptor of Greece and France, - who rigidly based his teaching on the Beaux-Arts instruction of Paris. Within a few years Miss Embericos assisted her teacher on some of his monuments (equestrian & other) erected mainly in Greece, and, at his request, instructed some of his pupils for several years.
When C. Dimitriadis was elected Director of the Athens Beaux-Arts, Nina joined the Colarossi Academy & the Julian Academy under the instruction of the famous French sculptor Charles Despiau (the Metropolitan Museum owns some of his works.)
While on vacation in Greece, (did I mention she was the daughter of Leonidas Embericos, known for creatingone of the wealthiest and most influential dynasties in Greek shipping history?)the Ministry of Education commissioned Nina to execute one, among11 other twice life-sized busts of the heroes of the Greek Independence, and was awarded first prize for the bust of Marco Botsaris. It stands in the Champs de Mars Park of Athens among the 11 other busts. A second commission was terminated when Miss Embericos returned to Paris due to the outbreak of Greco-Albanian hostilities.
In 1937, the Greek Consulate in Paris appointed her member of the International Jury on sculpture at the World Exhibition in Paris. Nina represented Greece among 30 official sculptors who awarded prizes for works exhibited in the respective pavilionsof each country.
In 1987, while abroad in Monaco, Nina passed away. In her will dated 1980, she bequeathed the contents of her New York City apartment to her dear friend and neighbor in the building, my mother-in-law.
This is Nina Embiricos's juror's badge created by the artist, Jean Serriere (1893 - 1965)
Jean Serrière was a French artist born in 1893.Jean Serrière's work has been offered at sale multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $121 USD to $13,901 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. Since 2020 the record price for this artist at sale is $13,901 USD for Partie de Service, sold at Sotheby's Paris in 2020.The artist died in 1965.
Beautiful Art Deco design with deep cobalt blue enamel. I found this pin in my late mother-in-law's belongings. It was wrapped in the tattered note shown in the picture. Unfortunately, part of the note is missing, but it does state that these particular badges were for the judges of the sculpture competition. And we know there were only 30 of them.
I don't know what the base metal is. There is some oxidation on the back. I'm afraid to attempt to clean it. It weighs 13 grams (not cheapy metal, for sure), about .4 ounces.
The pin part on the back is attached with a metal circle incised with "Arthus Bertrand Paris" at the top, and something else that I can't make out at the bottom of the circle.
The back of the actual enameled piece is embossed with the artist's name, JEAN SERRIERE.
(The Metropolitan Museum owns one of Serriere's enamel on copper plaques.)
It is exquisite and any collector of enamel will be lucky to have this rare example of Jean Serriere's art.
