Art Deco Elephant Bookends PairPatinated Metal on Marble Bases — French Style, circa 1920s–1930s
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In the 1920s and 30s, the elephant charged through French decorative arts. The Paris colonial exhibitions had turned every drawing room's imagination toward Africa and Asia, and the animal sculptors of the day answered with elephants — trunk raised, ears spread, caught mid-stride on slabs of marble. As bookends they were a small theatre for the shelf: two animals forever advancing toward each other, with a row of books holding them apart.
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Art Deco Elephant Bookends Pair, Patinated Metal on Marble Bases — French Style, circa 1920s–1930s
- Origin
- France
- Period
- Circa 1920s
DETAILS:
Each bookend: approx. 23 × 9 × 17.5 cm (9.1 × 3.5 × 6.9 in) — each roughly the footprint of a hardcover book
Patinated metal figures on veined marble plinth bases
Sold as a pair.
Condition: Good vintage condition with an aged patina and chipping to the marble bases, including the underside edges and the areas around the fixing holes, as shown in the photographs.
In the 1920s and 30s, the elephant charged through French decorative arts. The Paris colonial exhibitions had turned every drawing room's imagination toward Africa and Asia, and the animal sculptors of the day answered with elephants — trunk raised, ears spread, caught mid-stride on slabs of marble. As bookends they were a small theatre for the shelf: two animals forever advancing toward each other, with a row of books holding them apart.
This pair is in the French Art Deco taste, and by style and materials we place it in the 1920s or 1930s — an informed estimate, as the pair is unsigned and no maker is recorded. Each elephant is modelled mid-stride with trunk raised, in patinated metal with a deep green-brown surface, mounted on a thick rectangular plinth of rose-grey veined marble with canted corners. Look at where the patina has rubbed to a lighter tone — the trunk, the ears, the ridge of the back — because on a piece handled for decades the wear falls exactly on the high points a hand or a cloth reaches first, a pattern no artificial ageing gets quite right. Raised-trunk elephants of this school remain among the most sought-after Deco bookend subjects.
Both figures are sound and both plinths sit flat, with light, honest rubbing to the patina's high points and chipping to the marble base edges and underside, as the photographs show. Whoever shelved their books between these elephants before you kept them well. They are ready for a library shelf, a desk, or a mantel.
The pair is around ninety years old by our estimate, in metal and marble. It arrives professionally packed and fully insured — worldwide shipping and US import duties are included. For other destinations, local import taxes and duties may apply and are payable by the recipient. Returns are accepted within 30 days.
Condition & electrical details
Condition
Read our condition standard. Please ask if you need additional photographs or measurements.
A decorative style is not a guarantee of a particular maker or date. See the individual listing for the stated attribution and period.
Shipping, insurance & tariffs
Worldwide delivery is included in the price. Every piece is individually packed, tracked and fully insured. No shipping charge is added at checkout. If your destination is not listed, please contact us before ordering.
Maison Jaspers pays US tariffs and import duties. For other destinations, local import taxes and duties may apply and are payable by the recipient. Contact us before ordering if you need destination-specific guidance.
Dispatch timing is shown above. Transit time depends on your destination.
Returns
Notify us within 30 days of delivery if you wish to return a piece. No reason is required. You pay return shipping for a change-of-mind return.
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