Eagle trophy from pre ww2, looking for advice... E Delaune..

I am looking for any information on a piece I have. It was inherited by myself from my grandfather. He was in the British army and told me that he stole it from a bank vault from somewhere in Germany in WW2. There is a name engraved into the side, its difficult to make out but looks like E Delaune. I will upload some photos below, thanks, Adam

 

I think "liberated" is the preferred term.

Debora

 

lol

 

Welcome to the forums, Adam.

 

Looks like this is it:

It's French. Should be about 1.4 kg.
Was for sale on Ebay for €150. Sold one month ago free shipping.
+ pictures from all angles.
https://picclick.fr/Porte-montre-XIXe-Aigle-en-Bronze-doré-socle-marbre-164012076370.html

Porte-montre XIXe Aigle en Bronze doré socle marbre signé Ed. DELAUNE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Étienne_Delaune

Étienne Delaune: Étienne Delaune, Delaulne, or De Laune, (1518 or 1519) was a French goldsmith, medallist, draughtsman and engraver. Copies all over the place from these French chaps.

 

Ed. isn't an abbreviation for Etienne. Very likely stands for Édition Delaune and has nothing to do with a goldsmith from the 1500s.

Debora

 

yeah that's the one. thanks for the quick response!

 

Ed. is short for Édition (= publisher).

I suspect they just used the name "Delaune" to make it look worth more since it is signed. Dated: XIX century, so after Delaune.

One name you will come across all the time is "Moreau" on bronze in France. You have a whole bunch of them. The real ones are worth a lot, most are fake.

 

Way after Delaune... No relation at all to his work.

Debora

 

Here's one on eBay France. Seller doesn't mis-attribute. Described as a watch holder. And... eagle has snake in mouth for that purpose.

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Porte-montr...076370?hash=item262fe1ad52:g:X7sAAOSwyKleANw1

Debora

 

Most of them signed Auguste, Hippolyte or Mathurin Moreau are not by them. The relation is that they use their names.

Édition Delaune would mean book publisher Delaune. So, a book publisher who gave this as a gift to clients? Or somebody just using the reference to the goldsmith Delaune to make it look worth more? Who knows.

 

apparently it also had a matching ashtray. I didn't get chance to see what it looked like and has since been missing.

 

Did it look like this?

Nécessaire de bureau en bronze signé par E.Delaune
décor écureuil et pommes de pin époque fin XIXe.

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Necessaire-...027331?hash=item34229d3483:g:jEgAAOSws0JaW4Sl

Nécessaire de bureau bronze XIXe signé par Delaune

 

I don't think that the Éd stands for Éditeur (publisher) or Édition (edition) in the book sense. Think it's meant in the art sense as we also use it in English... being one of a multiple of castings of the same work. Deluane not an uncommon surname but certainly could have been chosen for its association with a famous artist.

Debora

 

The only ashtray by "Delaune" I could find is this one...

https://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=42136
he very rough casting of this piece, with numerous pinholes and grinder marks, is typical of silver 'Art Nouveau' pieces that showed up on the market in the last part of the 20th century, often sold at flea markets. It was taken from an early 20th century bronze ashtray - the original had no marks, and the awkwardness of the type would point to the 'signature' being spurious...

 

the Moreau clan worked mostly in régule and are an absolute pest to collectors because the quality of the artistic expression is for at least 80 % mediocre to lousy.
pomme de pin was a subcategory of art nouveau especially in the Jura region on both sides of the border.

 

Aye. And what do you think about this "Delaune" signature?

 

at the moment nothing. too early. needs to be turned in the head for a while.
but you may have a point there with post-war and suddenly showing up on fleamarkets. and the form of the pedestal points in the same direction.