Dove candy-box, Édouard Marcel Sandoz (Haviland, Limoges)

This porcelain dove shaped candy-box is one of the best art-déco items in the house (appart from the Lötz Tango stuff), and it is with no doubt pure Art Déco. The shape of the dove has been highly stylized and it is SOOOO full of charm!

It was designed by Édouard-Marcel Sandoz for the French porcelaine company Haviland (that was founded by an American entrepreneur in the middle of the 19th Century). We think there were two editions for this design, but unfortunately I cannot find much information about this dove - box or even Sandoz on the internet, which sounds really crazy. So if anyone knows when this box was made we'd be so thankful to him/her! We know Sandoz was working for Havland between 1915 and 1945 but it's vistually impossible to find out an approxiate date for the design of the different pieces.

I am including a icture of the fully signed base and another one showing the box open, which for some reason I find pretty amazing.

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Édouard-Marcel Sandoz (1881 - 1971) was a Swiss sculptor. After studying chemistry (he was the son of the owner of the Sandoz pharmaceutical company), he decided to turn to sculpture.  He studied for 3 years at the L'Ecole de Industrial Arts in Geneva then moved to Paris where he studied at the Ecole d'Beaux-Arts. During the First World War, due to the shortage of stone and bronze, Sandoz turned to porcelain for his sculptures and thus began his thirty year association with the Haviland Limoges company. For them he produced many distinctive highly stylized objects in the form of animals.  All of his sculptures are characterized by a geometric form which is strongly influenced by both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.  His sculptures show a unique and lively personal style and place him firmly at the top of the 20th century Animaliers (along with Francois Pompon and Rembrandt Bugatti).