Edgar Brandt "Pelican" Ashtray, France, c. 1926–1928

A stylized Art Deco pelican rendered in cast wrought iron by the master ironworker Edgar Brandt, its geometrically faceted form reduced to bold planes and crisp, sculptural lines characteristic of Brandt's celebrated design vocabulary. The bird's tucked head and beak double as a striking abstracted silhouette, its body cradling a removable circular dish designed to serve as an ashtray, balanced on a rectangular textured base. The surface throughout carries Brandt's signature hammered, mottled patina, adding tactile richness to the piece's crisp geometry. Stamped "E. Brandt" to the base.

This model is illustrated and documented in Joan Kahr's definitive monograph Edgar Brandt: Master of Art Deco Ironwork (fig. 183), where it is dated circa 1926–1928.

Edgar Brandt (1880–1960) was the preeminent ferronnier (ironworker) of the French Art Deco period, renowned for elevating wrought iron from a purely structural material into a vehicle for sculptural, high-style design. Trained at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, Brandt established his own workshop in Paris in 1919 and quickly became the era's most sought-after metalworker, producing gates, staircases, radiator covers, lighting, and decorative objects for clients ranging from private collectors to the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes — the exhibition that gave Art Deco its name, and where Brandt's work was a centerpiece.

Brandt's output combined bold, streamlined geometry with naturalistic and stylized animal motifs — a hallmark seen in his celebrated iron gazelles, deer, and birds, of which this pelican ashtray is a fine example. He opened La Galerie Edgar Brandt in Paris, showcasing his own work alongside that of contemporaries including Jules Leleu, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, and Jean Luce, and regularly hosted "Les Artistes Animaliers" exhibitions celebrating animal-themed decorative art. Brandt's work remains among the most collected and museum-represented of the French Art Deco ironwork tradition, held in institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Location: Miami