Anna Petrus
For condition report contact specialist
a pair of pewter and brass candlesticks, Herman Bergman's foundry, Stockholm, Swedish Grace, early 1920s.
Circular base, the side with meandering decor, square leg, on top a flute playing lion, signed Anna Petrus Herman Bergmans Fud. Height 24.5 cm.
Minor wear.
Exhibitions
The Worlds Fair in Paris 1925, this model was included.
New York, 1927, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The model was included in the show called 'Swedish Contemporary Decorative Arts'
Literature
Marie Rehnberg, 'Anna Petrus Skulptör, industrikonstnär och pionjär' (2009), 2022, Arena Förlag, pp 82-83.
Hedvig Hedqvist, Rikard Jacobson, Jan von Gerber, 'Modernt Svenskt Tenn', 2004, p 21.
Gregor Paulsson (ed), Svenska Slöjdföreningens årsbok, 1926 (Yearbook for The Swedish Association of Crafts 1926), p 59, the model depicted together with an inkstand also designed by Anna Petrus.
Designer
Anna Petrus was a sculptor and designer at the beginning of the 20th Century. After her death, Anna Petrus' work was almost forgotten, but in recent years, it been rediscovered. And now, her sculptures are sought after-objects.
She was born Anna Petersson, the daughter of a medical professor and a countess, and took the surname when she studied at the Academy of Arts. She inherited a small fortune at age 11 when her mother died, which enabled her to educate in London and travel to Italy and France. Anna Petrus had her international breakthrough at the Paris World Fair in 1925, where she displayed pewter and cast iron objects in the Swedish Grace style. At the time, pewter was a material that was considered unfashionable, but its popularity increased with designers like Anna Petrus.
In 1924, she began collaborating with the newly established Firma Svenskt Tenn. The lion became a recurring motif in Anna Petrus' production as sculptures and decorations.