Line Vautrin Miroir Sorcière Mazarin

rare “Mazarin” miroir sorciere in black Talosel by Line Vautrin, France circa 1960 Signed ‘Line Vautrin’ on the back

Line Vautrin (1913-1997) revered 20thC French artist who created a legacy of inspired work that The New York Times once described as “bold, brilliant, barbaric and intricately crafted.”

Born in 1913 to a family of metalworkers, she had mastered skills of casting, chasing and gilding bronze by the time she was 14. Vautrin took a booth in the 1937 International Exposition in Paris,  A few  years later she opened an atelier in le Marais, and an exquisite boutique on the rue du Faubourg Saint­Honoré,

In the 1950s, Vautrin started experimenting with cellulose acetate, she dubbed “Talosel,” (an acronym she derived from the French term: aceTAte de celluLOSe ELaboré.) She used it to create jewellery mirrors and other items the way she worked with metal, melting it down and forming it into unusual shapes and ornaments, yielding a result strangely primitive yet totally unique and unusual.

Her work has been collected by such luminaries as Diego Giacometti, Brigitte Bardot, Caroline of Monaco and Christian Lacroix.