ART DECO WROUGHT IRON AND GLASS CHANDELIER Of stylised hexagonal form. The upper section with finely cast wrought iron flowerheads and the lower section of square arched form fitted with a signed central bowl flanked by four acid etched and frosted bell shaped shades. The central glass bowl signed by the artist Degue Circa 1928 - 1934 Degué was the conception of the perplexing David Guéron (1892 – 1950). Following the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, he set up his glassworks in Compiègne, northeast of Paris, to produce tableware and other functional glass. In The year after the successful Paris Exhibition, Guéron moved into production of French art glass. He opened Verrerie d’Art Degué in Paris, a glassworks at Boulevard Malesherbes along with a gallery at 41, avenue de Paris to promote the art glass he named “Degué”. His internally decorated vases, lamps and lampshades met instant success. Degué glass was destined for the collections of the few Americans and French able to afford them. The extravagant works were rarely seen outside the homes of such collectors but influenced the taste and fashions of the day through their appearance in exhibitions and magazines of the late 1920s. Items made after 1930 were frosted and more subdued, in response to the Great Depression. The artistic fame of the Degué glassworks is due to the collaboration with Edouard Cazaux from 1928. This famed ceramist created models of stylized thick moulded glass of strong and geometric patterns. The French ocean liner, Normandie is a showcase of French style and taste, but, above all, a symbol of France’s dominance of the luxury market. The Cristalleries de Compiègne (Degué) was given the commission to create 6000 individual crafted glass panels for the room’s walls. This fabrication of hammered and chiseled panels with their engraved diamond patterns and eglomise finishes by famed French glass painter Auguste Labouret, was the largest assignment ever undertaken by the firm. In 1936, due to the great strikes, the Degué glassworks stopped operating. It was officially closed in 1939 at the outbreak of WWII. Sadly the Normandie caught fire and capsized in New York Harbour in February 1942. Fortunately, some of the great works that graced the ship were removed before the fire and can still be seen today.