Daum (glassworks)

Daum (glassworks)
Name	Daum
Native name	Daum
Founded	1878
Founder	Jean Daum
Headquarters	Nancy, France
Products	Art glass, cameo glass, pâte de verre, vases, lamps, sculptures

Daum (glassworks) is a French glassmaking firm founded in 1878 in Nancy, France. Renowned for its role in Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Daum produced cameo glass, pâte de verre, and decorative objects for patrons, museums, and exhibitions such as the Exposition Universelle (1900) and Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes. The company worked with artists and designers linked to the École de Nancy, supplying pieces to collections like the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and international collectors associated with Metropolitan Museum of Art and Victoria and Albert Museum.

History

Daum emerged in the late 19th century in Lorraine under the leadership of Jean Daum and his son Auguste Daum, interacting with contemporaries such as Émile Gallé, Louis Majorelle, Victor Prouvé, and institutions like the École de Nancy. During the Belle Époque, Daum exhibited at the Exposition Universelle (1878) and later at the Exposition Universelle (1900), engaging networks that included the Société des Amis des Arts and patrons from Paris and London. In the interwar period Daum adapted to Art Deco tastes alongside firms like René Lalique and Sabino, while surviving economic shifts and wartime disruptions affecting Lorraine and the industrial landscape tied to Metz and Nancy. Post‑World War II, Daum navigated reconstruction, evolving markets in United States and Japan, and collaborations with contemporary designers and institutions such as the Centre Pompidou and private collections in New York City.

Products and Techniques

Daum specialized in techniques including cameo glass, pâte de verre, acid etching, wheel carving, and enameling, paralleling processes used by Émile Gallé, René Lalique, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Its production encompassed vases, bowls, lamps, perfume bottles, medallions, and sculptural panels intended for salons and public commissions like installations for Opéra Garnier and municipal projects in Nancy. Materials and methods referenced developments in Bohemia glassmaking and French chemical advances from firms connected to Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat and workshops influenced by glassmakers from Venice and Murano. Daum integrated color layering and reduction techniques related to innovations by George Ravenscroft and practices observed at the Corning Museum of Glass.

Art Nouveau and Art Glass Collections

Daum’s Art Nouveau output entered museum collections alongside works by Gustav Klimt and Hector Guimard, featuring organic motifs, flora, and fauna motifs similar to pieces in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy and acquisitions by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Exhibited with peers at venues such as the Galerie Georges Petit and the Petit Palais, Daum objects are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Musée d'Orsay, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Curators associated with exhibitions at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Victoria and Albert Museum have traced Daum’s contributions to the trajectory from Art Nouveau to Art Deco, paralleling collections that include works by Émile Gallé, Louis Majorelle, and Hector Guimard.

Notable Artists and Designers

Daum collaborated with or employed artists and designers connected to the École de Nancy and broader decorative arts networks, including names like Émile Gallé (as rival/influence), Victor Prouvé, Antonin Daum (family member and director), Auguste Daum, and later contemporary designers who exhibited at galleries such as Galerie Charles L’Orme. Artists associated with special series include sculptors and modelers who exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français and engaged with decorators from Paris and Nancy who had ties to institutions like the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts de Nancy.

Workshops and Production Facilities

Daum’s workshops in Nancy, France combined artisanal studios and industrial furnaces akin to facilities at Baccarat and Saint-Louis (glass manufacturer), employing glassblowers, engravers, and kiln operators trained in techniques seen in Murano and Bohemia. The firm operated showrooms in Paris and maintained distribution networks that reached galleries in London, New York City, and Tokyo, with pieces displayed in exhibitions at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (1925) and sold through dealers tied to the Marché de l'Art.

Business and Ownership

Founded by Jean Daum, the company passed to his sons and remained family-run through the Daum lineage, with figures such as Auguste Daum and Antonin Daum managing operations. Daum navigated commercial relationships with department stores like Le Bon Marché and auction houses including Sotheby's and Christie's, and negotiated intellectual and design rights in an era paralleling debates around makers such as René Lalique and Émile Gallé. The firm adapted to market changes through collaborations and limited editions marketed to collectors and museums in Europe and the United States.

Legacy and Influence on Glassmaking

Daum’s legacy is evident in museum holdings at institutions like the Musée d'Orsay, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy, and the Corning Museum of Glass, influencing generations of glassmakers, studios, and schools including practitioners from Murano, Bohemia, and contemporary ateliers represented at the Glass Art Society conferences. Its role in innovating cameo glass and pâte de verre techniques contributed to the revival of decorative glass arts in the late 19th and 20th centuries alongside luminaries such as Émile Gallé and René Lalique, shaping collecting, scholarship, and conservation priorities in institutions like the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

Category:Glassmaking companies of France