Brussels Reporter
  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      Greece will raise pensions in 2023, says PM…

      July 7, 2022July 7, 2022

      Europe

      Spanish foreign minister presses EU to retrain focus…

      July 7, 2022

      Europe

      British government says ‘no’ to Scotland on new…

      July 6, 2022July 7, 2022

      Europe

      Women’s Euro 2022 tournament kicks off in England

      July 6, 2022July 6, 2022

      Europe

      Dozens of police injured as EU compromise protest…

      July 6, 2022July 6, 2022

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business

Brussels Reporter

  • Home
  • Brussels
  • Europe
    • Europe

      Greece will raise pensions in 2023, says PM…

      July 7, 2022July 7, 2022

      Europe

      Spanish foreign minister presses EU to retrain focus…

      July 7, 2022

      Europe

      British government says ‘no’ to Scotland on new…

      July 6, 2022July 7, 2022

      Europe

      Women’s Euro 2022 tournament kicks off in England

      July 6, 2022July 6, 2022

      Europe

      Dozens of police injured as EU compromise protest…

      July 6, 2022July 6, 2022

  • Globe
  • Lifestyle
  • Business
Home News This Belgian jewelry set is over 100 years old – Discover the craftsmanship of Wolfers & Bros
News

This Belgian jewelry set is over 100 years old – Discover the craftsmanship of Wolfers & Bros

by editor November 22, 2018
November 22, 2018

In 1885 a thirty-three-year-old Belgian man going prematurely bald and with a long, equine jaw was named the General Administrator of Foreign Affairs of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II. From a very young age Edmond van Eetvelde carried the spirit of adventure in his breast pocket. He moved to China in 1872 where he lived until 1878 trying to convince the mandarins to develop the railroad with the help of the Belgians. Through his wily diplomatic maneuvers, Edmond van Eetvelde gained the esteem of the Belgian monarch who was known to be dismissive of the new kind of art that was brewing in Europe, or Art Nouveau. It was van Eetvelde who lobbied the King to expand his views on art.

All of this I learned last week when I joined a guided tour organized by Arkadia ASBL at the Cinquantenaire Arts and History Museum to visit the Horta & Wolfers exhibition which has on display some of the most exquisite pieces of nineteenth and early twentieth century jewelry in the world.

 

 

“The Wolfers family came originally from Germany,” said guide Cécile Dubois. “The patriarch, Louis Wolfers, came from the Mainz region to Belgium in 1850 and settled down with his family in Brussels. Their main business, at least in the beginning, was the sale of raw materials to silversmiths.”

Louis’s son, Philippe (born in 1858) joined the Fine Arts Academy in Brussels where master sculptor, Isidore De Rudder, took him under his wing and taught him how to work with metals, the craftsmanship that Wolfers would later develop with his own innovative style. From the early 1890’s he began to experiment with the different techniques available for ivory carving, and in 1897 he dazzled the world with his art. 1897 was the year in which Brussels hosted the Universal Exposition at the Cinquantenaire, yet Wolfers’s works were on display elsewhere.

 

Philippe Wolfers

 

“Besides the Universal Exposition at the Cinquantenaire there was another one in Tervuren called the Colonial Exposition,” said Ms. Dubois, as the group stood in the upstairs hall surrounding a piece of ivory, a long tusk that must have belonged to a male the size of a small house. Half of the tusk was polished by Wolfers, its creamy white color becoming more noticeable, the other half still showing the original brownish tones seen in nature. Carrying the weight of the tusk on its back, stands a long-necked swan wrapping itself around the tusk.

 

Philippe Wolfers

 

“The name of the sculpture is La caresse du cygne, or the Swan’s caress. A very apposite title, I’m sure you’ll all agree. Ivory was very expensive so the Belgian state had to sponsor some of the pieces. Again, Edmond van Eetvelde was the mastermind, the one who cajoled King Leopold II into opening his wallet.” La caresse du cygne was designed to be have a practical use, in this case a vase for long-stemmed flowers.

The exhibition includes the furniture that Victor Horta designed in 1909 for the Wolfers & Bros (Wolfers Frères) jewelry shop that opened in 1912 on Rue d’Arenberg in downtown Brussels. “Horta wrote in his journal that Philippe Wolfers was somewhat of a stone in the shoe, to say the least. He opposed many of Horta’s visions for the shop but eventually the architect stood his ground and this is what the world saw on opening day.” The building on Rue d’Arenberg still exists, with it’s large stylized window panes. It now houses the KBC bank.

Inside the display cabinets lie necklaces the shape of dragonflies, crabs, serpents, and other animals, all of them designed by Wolfers. Also jewelry boxes made in silver and ivory, carved with intricate details, precious stones adorning the corners.

 

Philippe Wolfers

 

In 1925, four years before his death, Philippe Wolfers designed a complete set of cutlery and glasses for the Paris Universal Exposition. “It was called the Ensemble Gioconde. By then Wolfers had become more and more interested in geometric shapes. It was the boom of the Art Deco years. You can see all of the pieces have the shape of polygons, even the dishes.” The Ensemble was on display inside the Belgian Pavillion which was visited by Queen Elizabeth on June, 11th, 1925.

 

Philippe Wolfers

 

Philippe Wolfers’s son, Marcel, was also a well-known sculptor and the collection includes a very special vase made by him. “This vase was a gift from the people of Sweden to Belgium in 1935,” said Ms. Dubois. “And what was the occasion? A tragic one. Queen Astrid, who was Swedish, died in a car accident in Switzerland. She was only 29.”

The Horta & Wolfers exhibition runs at the Cinquantenaire Arts and History Museum until the 30th of December, 2018.

previous post
Belgium strongly affected by Ikea restructuring
next post
Belgian researchers prepare to spend Christmas in Antartica

Related Posts

Sturgeon fish farming in Wallonia: Caviar from the...

November 21, 2018

This weekend SNCB offers 5 Eur Green Ticket...

November 30, 2018

Business support and investment opportunities with Business Angels...

November 24, 2018

Activists in Brussels denounce “Greenwashing” and tax benefits...

November 27, 2018

Christmas markets in Brabant-Walloon – Brussels Express

November 22, 2018

North of Portugal conquered Brussels

November 26, 2018

Belgium overtakes Denmark and becomes the 2nd most...

November 28, 2018

Bring out your inner artist at Boa Karaoke...

November 27, 2018

Red Devils – Belgium had not conceded five...

November 19, 2018

Uzbekistan doubles the number of tourists in 2018

November 23, 2018
Promotion Image

Recent Posts

  • Greece will raise pensions in 2023, says PM Mitsotakis, for first time in more than a decade
  • Georgia Guidestones: 'America's Stonehenge' demolished after blast
  • Spanish foreign minister presses EU to retrain focus on migration
  • Refugee Diaries: Images of home, old and new
  • How TikTok is fuelling dreams of wealth in the Arab world
Promotion Image

GO!

Lifestyle

  • Scientists are using satellites to count elephants from space for the first time

  • France: Hospital workers demand more resources to fight COVID-19

  • Alexei Navalny: Millions watch jailed critic's 'Putin palace' film

  • Covid vaccine: WHO warns of ‘catastrophic moral failure’

  • Belgium looks good in white

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Ukraine invasion: Fighting breaks out in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv

    February 27, 2022
  • 2

    Ukraine war: Putin will be held responsible for shopping centre ‘war crime’, say G7 leaders

    June 28, 2022
  • 3

    South Africa police try to unravel tavern deaths tragedy

    June 27, 2022

Editor’s Choices

  • Sociopath ING or a blockchain of corruption from a well-known financial group

    May 24, 2021
  • Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID jabs ‘highly effective’ against India variant, study shows

    May 23, 2021
  • G20 leaders at Rome summit pledge more vaccines for poorer countries

    May 21, 2021

Opinions

  • Spanish foreign minister presses EU to retrain focus on migration

    July 7, 2022
  • Refugee Diaries: Images of home, old and new

    July 7, 2022
  • Belgium green-lights treaty that would allow convicted terrorist to be sent back to Iran

    July 6, 2022

@2018-2021 - Brussels Reporter (www.brusselsreporter.com). All Right Reserved.