ACADEMIE FRANCAISE 
* Sword of Marcel Prévost of the French Academy, (Paris, 186…
Description

ACADEMIE FRANCAISE

* Sword of Marcel Prévost of the French Academy, (Paris, 1862 - Vianne, 1941) Fine sword with gilt mount. Ivory fuse chiseled with interlacing foliage and ribbons, engraved "May 27, 1909 (date of his election to the Academy) and "April 21, 1910" (date of the delivery of the sword). Agate pommel surmounted by a dome with melon ribs on a silver base. Fine branch of guard decorated with grapes, with quillon curved downwards, signed "Falize Orf. Paris". Keyboard decorated with ribbon interlacing with days. Triangular blade with hollow sides, signed "Coulaux à Klingenthal" on the heel. Black leather scabbard with two fittings. Cut-out cap, engraved with a fortified tower and trees, with the inscription "Vianne". Gold plated buttler chased with foliage. Button of oval hat chiseled of the initials G.S.L. Length : 94,5 cm. B.E. In its green morocco covered case, figured "MP" and friezes, sheathed inside with white silk marked "Falize orfèvre à Paris" and green velvet. Eugène Marcel Prévost was a French novelist and playwright, born in Paris (8th) on May 1st 1862 and died in Vianne on April 8th 1941. After studying at the minor seminary in Orleans and with the Jesuits in Paris, Marcel Prévost entered the École Polytechnique in 1882. He was an engineer in the tobacco industry in Lille where he was also an examiner at the Institut industriel du Nord. He was one of the first dreyfusards, and took part with Émile Zola, Louis Sarrut and Louis Leblois in the dinner organized on November 13, 1897 by Scheurer-Kestner, president of the Senate and Alsatian, during which the latter decided to share his conviction with the public. In 1881, he began to publish short stories in Le Clairon, a monarchist newspaper, under the pseudonym Schlem. His first writings are under the influence of Alphonse Daudet and George Sand. In 1890, he left the civil service to devote himself to literature. Three periods can be distinguished in his career. The first concerns the Works of Youth and extends from 1884 to 1894. The second begins with the novel Les Demi-Vierges and ends in the 1920s. Finally, the third period extends from the 1930s to his death and shows that, despite a certain loss of public enthusiasm, he remains a writer of the first order. He directed the Revue de France from 1922 to 1940. He was elected to the Académie française on May 27, 1909, in Victorien Sardou's chair. Marcel Prévost was made Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1894 (decorated by Philippe Gille), promoted to Officer in 1900 (decorated by Ludovic Halévy of the French Academy), Commander in 1913 (decorated by Paul Hervieu). Decorated with the Croix de Guerre 1914-1918, Marcel Prévost was elevated to the dignity of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor on November 23, 1927 by Raymond Poincaré, former President of the Republic and member of the Académie Française, and finally to Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1935, the insignia being presented to him in January 1936 by General Charles Nollet, Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor. The Maison Falize was founded in 1838 by Alexis Falize (1811-1898). His son Lucien Falize (1838-1897) joined his father in 1871 under the name "Falize Père et Fils". His father Alexis retired in 1876. In 1880, Lucien Falize joined forces with Germain Bapst, a descendant of the jewelers of the French Crown since 1725, to found the company "Bapst & Falize". When their father Lucien Falize died in 1897, his three sons succeeded him under the name "Falize Frères". André Falize (1872-1936), the eldest, after having studied at the HEC, did his apprenticeship with the master goldsmith Bossard in Lucerne, an undisputed specialist in Renaissance style goldsmithing. With a very strong personality, André Falize displays a pride that is rarely equaled. He takes over the direction of the workshop. Jean Falize (1874-1943), a pupil of Edme Couty for decorative composition, worked for some time in industrial chemistry and research of new alloys at the Comptoir de matières précieuses Lyon-Alemand. He was involved in jewelry. Pierre Falize, (1875-1953), was first a painter. A student at the École des Beaux-Arts, his teachers were Jules Lefebvre and O. Merson. Having developed a passion for enamel, he studied it at Grandhomme's and has since enamelled the pieces he has made himself. The three brothers devoted themselves entirely to goldsmithing and jewelry. Combining their special skills and surrounding themselves, as their father had done, with selected collaborators, they showed by the two great prizes they obtained at the 1900 Exposition, that the Falize house is in good hands. The Falize family played an important role in the development of Art Nouveau jewelry and goldsmithing, working with Emile Gallé in particular.

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ACADEMIE FRANCAISE

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