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Anna Petrus

(Sweden, 1886-1949)
Estimate
20 000 - 30 000 SEK
1 770 - 2 650 EUR
1 820 - 2 730 USD
Hammer price
32 000 SEK
Purchasing info
For condition report contact specialist
Eva Seeman
Stockholm
Eva Seeman
Chief Specialist Modern and Contemporary Decorative art and design
+46 (0)708 92 19 69
Anna Petrus
(Sweden, 1886-1949)

a pair of Swedish Grace cast iron garden urns 'Blomkruka nr 1', Näfveqvarns Bruk.

Relief decoration. Height 21 cm, diameter 24 cm.

Minor rust to interior.

Provenance

Reportedly, these come from an estate in Sweden, Dala-Floda, thence by descent.
Originally there were four of them, the other two were sold at Bukowskis' auction nr 555 in 2010, lot nr 763.

Literature

Björk, Christian, Näfveqvarns bruk: konstnärer och arkitekter till industrin, Orosdi-Back, Stockholm, 2013, p 93.

Designer

Anna Petrus was a sculptor, industrial designer, and artist active in the early 20th century. She was born as Anna Petersson, the daughter of a professor of medicine and a countess, and adopted her surname while studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She inherited a modest fortune at the age of 11 when her mother passed away, which allowed her to pursue her education in London and travel to Italy and France.

Anna Petrus's major international breakthrough came with the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, where she showcased items in pewter and cast iron, in the Swedish Grace style. Pewter was considered an outdated material at the time, but its popularity grew as designers like Petrus recognised its advantages. In 1924, she began a collaboration with the then newly established Firma Svenskt Tenn. The lion became a recurring motif in Anna Petrus's work, both as sculptures and as stylised decorations.

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