Ballerinas, chryselephantine sculptures from the Art Deco period

20th century (1920-1930)
Bronze and ivory, marble base

Owing to a crisis in trade, from 1894 the Belgian minister for the Congo Van Estevelde encouraged artists to use ivory, supplying the best pieces free of charge, as the stocks of the precious imported material were becoming considerable. Having been encouraged to use it, several sculptors created works with this material; the work of Chiparus was

of particular note. Demetre H. Chiparus was born in Dorohoi, in Romania. The sculptures produced by Chiparus are a stunning example of Art Deco from the Twenties and Thirties: they combine elegance and luxury, and embody the spirit of the artistic period to perfection.