Michel ZADOUNAISKY: Art-Déco console

Michel Zadounaïsky
Charming low console in hammered wrought iron.
In the form of a podium, it features a decoration of interlaced scrolls.
Beige marble slab top.
Signed on the front.
Circa 1930.
Height 66 cm, width 74 cm, depth 50 cm.
Delivery possible.


Michel Zadounaïsky (1903-1983)
The son of Russian émigrés, Michel Zadounaïsky moved to France in 1916 at the age of thirteen. He began his artistic apprenticeship at the Beaux-Arts de Lyon, but ended up staying only a few months.
At the time, Lyon was a hotbed of artistic activity, with great names in Art-Nouveau and Art-Déco such as Sornay, Krass, Linossier, Piguet and Paulin.
In 1920, he discovered wrought-iron work when he joined the Fournet chandelier factory. He also took up repoussage en ronde bosse, i.e. working with metal using only a hammer and fire; techniques in which he is a master.
His skills and perfectionism were known to Parisian ironmonger Raymond Subes, who offered him a job, which he declined.
Four years later, in 1924, he opened his first workshop in Lyon at 76 rue Béchevelin, where he worked until 1953, becoming one of the leading figures in Lyon's decorative arts.
He is considered one of the few wrought-iron craftsmen to have tackled wrought iron as a sculptor and not just as a craftsman.