Art Nouveau Bronze Bookends c.1900s Male and Female Sculpture

Stunning pair of hollow-cast bronze figural antique bookends, featuring a young man and young woman, the couple exuding a kind of Adam and Eve wonder and innocence.

At more than 22 pounds the pair, the heaviest bronze bookends we’ve ever listed. Beautiful definition in the serene expression on their faces, and too the definition in their feet, hands and other features.

Sculptor and foundry unknown. There is no signature or mark, so we cannot know the exact age of this fine pair, they could have been cast anytime from the Art Nouveau 1890s to perhaps the 1930s or so, judging by the patina of the bottom plates.

Though, too, it’s possible that the bottom plates were added some time after the pair were made. The bottoms are cut to shape from brass plate and attached with slotted head screws (2 of which are missing). We did not want to alter them in any way, and given that they might be prone to scratch a surface that one might slide them on, we are including a pair of cut-to-shape felt pads (unattached) to place beneath each bookend.

Both male and female figures are sitting or kneeling, nude but discreetly so, he due to his kneeling position and she by her long hair that drapes down and across her legs. When placed against books, the couple appear to be leaning-into the stack.

SPECS: The male figure bookend is 7.1 inches tall, base about 6.4 x 3.9 inches, weight 9.5 lbs. The female figure bookend is 7.0 inches tall, base about 5.6 x 4.7 inches, weight 13.1 lbs. So the pair weigh 22.9 pounds, or about 10.4 kg. Clearly visible in several of the photos, there is a tiny hole through the casting, approx 1mm x 5mm and roughly centered on the books-facing side of the female bookend, this tiny casting anomaly is not at all visible when they are placed against books.

Truly a special, beautiful and functional pair of vintage bronze bookends.