ACADEMIE FRANCAISE 
Sword of academician of Mr. Abel HERMANT Beautiful silver fr…
Description

ACADEMIE FRANCAISE

Sword of academician of Mr. Abel HERMANT Beautiful silver frame, gilt. Chased fuse decorated with a bust of a young woman, marked on top "CLIO" (daughter of Zeus), enriched with branches of laurel leaves; on the back, "AMIGUS PLATO SED MAGIS AMICA PATRIA". Guard with a grooved branch, decorated with a ribbon at the base and ending with a flower quillon, signed "A. Falice". Keyboard decorated with a bouquet of roses chased with days. Triangular blade of "COULAUX et Cie KLINGENTHAL FRANCE". Drum covered with brown leather. Cut silver cap, engraved on the back "Sword of Abel Hermant elected to the French Academy on June 30, 1927". Oval clevis knob engraved "AH" interlaced, decorated with a string of small pearls at the base. Silver bouterolle engraved with foliage with ball sting. Length : 87 cm. B.E. (slight lack of the scabbard). Abel HERMANT, (Paris, 1862-1950). Abel Hermant had very early the vocation of letters. After a degree of letters, he was received first at the École Normale Supérieure in 1880, but he had to resign after one year to devote himself to literature. He turned to the novel, then to the ironic painting of contemporary mOurs. We also owe him some plays. Talented satirist, Abel Hermant knew in his time the success that deserved his work, a picture without complacency of the Belle Époque After three failures and six blank elections, Abel Hermant was elected to the French Academy on June 30, 1927, by 23 votes against 1 to Fernand Gregh and 3 to the Count of Blois, in the chair of René Boylesve. Abel Hermant was condemned on December 15, 1945 for acts of collaboration and, as a consequence, excluded from the Academy. As an exceptional measure, his chair was filled during his lifetime. Pardoned and released in 1948, Abel Hermant tried to justify his conduct during the Occupation in Le Treizième Cahier. 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 in particular with Emile Gallé. They had a prestigious clientele such as the Bonaparte family, Queen Victoria, the Russian imperial family, King Fouad of Egypt, Alfonso XIII of Spain, Peter I of Serbia... André was president of the Société Protectrice des Animaux and devoted a lot of money to it. From 1925 onwards, the Falize company experienced serious financial problems caused, among other things, by André's commitment to the animal cause. When André Falize died in 1936, the Falize company did not survive him.

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ACADEMIE FRANCAISE

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