A newel post lamp
Q. This statue has been watching my kids run up and down stairs for more than 50 years. We would like to know more about it. I have tried the Internet, but without much luck.
A. Despite all the hype and hoopla, the Internet can be very hard to use. It can be like squeezing water from a rock.
While doing research on this, we found a rather well-designed entry pleading for help finding more information on Moreau. We tried with great confidence to find facts that we considered to be reliable, only to find that there is just not that much out there to be found.
So, yes — the Internet can be very frustrating, providing floods of information on some subjects and almost nothing on others. We do not have great confidence in what follows, but this may be because the Moreaus were a large family of artists, with three sons following a famous father into sculpture and painting.
Once again, we are missing bits of information that would have really helped us. First, we do not know how tall this particular figure happens to be, and second, we cannot read the tag shown in one of the two photos. Due to this, we would like to suggest that those who want information write out marks and inscriptions because they are often unreadable in photographs.
On the tag we can read “—FEE AUX FLEURS” on top with “——L. MOREAU——” below. This means that this piece is almost certainly taken from the work of one of two of the three Moreau brothers born in Dijon, France. The “L. Moreau” is probably Louis Auguste Moreau (1855-1919), who was known for his metal sculptures.
If there is an “L. & F. Moreau” mark, that is for Louis and his brother, Hippolyte Francois Moreau (1857-1930), who was a painter and sculptor. Together they ran the L&F Moreau studio, which produced spelter copies of the bronze statues that the brothers produced separately.
As for the top line on the signature tag, “FEE AUX FLEURS” is probably all there is, because in French, “FEE” means “fairy” or “winged figure from folklore,” and this image is unquestionably a beautiful female, winged mythological figure — or fairy.
The style is Art Nouveau, which originated in France in the late 1880s and was popular worldwide under several names, such as “Jugendstile” in Germany, “Secession” in Austro-Hungary and “Stille Liberty” in Italy. It was most popular between about 1890 and 1910, and was based on forms found in nature and emphasized the curved line.
All this said, this piece is far older than the 50 years quoted in the letter. It is circa 1900 and was made from spelter that was given a coating of bronze. Spelter is basically zinc, and has a silvery-gray coloration that can be seen on the fairy’s body where it has been continually rubbed for the past 110 years or so (if you look around the figure’s neck, the bronze coating is still evident).
This is called a newel post lamp because it was designed to sit atop a staircase’s newel post and light the passage up the stairs. The value of this piece depends on its size. If it is 40 inches tall, its insurance value would be between $2,000 and $2,500. But if it is taller — say, 50-plus inches — that price would go up considerably, while smaller examples would be considerably less.
Ÿ Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.