Paul Beau & Co. (1871-1949) ‘Metal Craftsman • ‘ Artistic Metal Worker ‘, Church of St. Andrew & St. Paul
Paul Beau & Co. (1871-1949) • ‘Metal Craftsman’ • Artistic, Metal Worker
‘One of the few Canadians who was able to devote his career to the execution of his own hand work was Paul Beau, a metal craftsman from Montreal .
Paul Beau was born in Montreal , November 1, 1871 . He began his career as a dealer in antiques and watches.’
‘After 1906, Paul Beau & Co. refer to themselves as ‘Artistic Metal Workers’ offering Antique Art Goods, Old Clocks, Ancient Arms, Brass and Copper Jardinieres.
He maintained a shop and residence from 1915-1922 at 291 Mountain Street in Montreal .’
‘Paul Beau was part of the Arts and Crafts movement in Canada . With the onset of cheap and rapid methods of machine manufacture in the applied arts, quick profits quickly outweighed the respect and demand for the craftsman-artist. Beau refused to rely on machines and worked in the tradition of the early European metal smiths.’
A characteristic feature of Beau’s works is the combination of metals of contrasting colours, such as employing brass for the body of an object and trimming it with decorative bands of red copper. The style of Beau’s works would vary from jardiniere of Gothic inspired motifs, or an urn of classical shape ornamented with Greek geometric patterns, to a letter box with embossed naturalistic leaves after British arts and crafts design. Beau was fond of adding ornate, cast brass plaques or handles and feet to his pieces, while keeping the main body of the piece as simple as possible. Often, Beau would treat the brass with chemicals to produce a dark brown shiny patina which was intended to give the piece an antique look. This antique or bronzed appearance was admired by Beau’s clients and often preferred to the bright lustre of new brass.
To identify his work, Paul Beau usually, but not always, stamped the metal with his mark: PAUL BEAU & Co/MONTREAL within a circle. This is the most common form of his mark but some pieces (late 1920’s to the 1940’s when Beau no longer ran his shop) are known to simply bear the name, PAUL BEAU.
Paul Beau received some recognition for his first architectural commissions from the Montreal firm of Edward and William S. Maxwell. The Maxwell brothers were responsible for many domestic residences and public buildings in Montreal including hotels, railway stations and civic buildings in other Canadian cities. According to the architects’ record books, Paul Beau executed on a regular basis from 1903 to 1916, creating electric fixtures, fireplace accessories, door hardware, wrought-iron grilles, lanterns and even weather vanes for the Maxwells’ buildings.
As a result of his reputation as a metal smith, Paul Beau was commissioned to undertake the ornamental hand-wrought ironwork in the Centre Block of the Federal Parliament Buildings in Ottawa . For Paul Beau, this Ottawa commission was the high point in his career.
In the 1940’s, Beau was in his seventies and found little demand for his work. Metal was scarce due to the war when copper and brass were needed for bombs and ammunitions rather than decorative metal artwares. In his seventy-eighth year, a forgotten artist and in a difficult financial position, Paul Beau took his own life under the large cross atop Mount Royal overlooking Montreal .
#ArtisticMetal #MetalCraftman #ArtCraftsMovement#ArtsCraftsCanada #PAULBEAUCo #MONTREAL
Paul Beau & Company
Paul Beau (1871-1949), originaire de Montréal, est un maître métallurgiste associé au mouvement Arts and Crafts du Canada. Ce mouvement est initié en Grande-Bretagne pour contrer la production industrielle dans le domaine des arts décoratifs et gagne en popularité dans les centres urbains de l’Empire entre les années 1890 et 1920. En raison de l’importance qu’il accorde aux éléments travaillés à la main et aux matériaux traditionnels, le style Arts and Crafts est particulièrement compatible avec l’architecture néo-gothique des édifices du Parlement.
Paul Beau supervise un atelier de fer forgé sur les terrains du Parlement de 1920 à 1926. Lui et son équipe d’artisans produisent une multitude de pièces de ferronnerie décoratives pour l’édifice du Centre, ouvert depuis peu. Leur travail est visible dans tout l’édifice : des accessoires de foyer, des luminaires, des grilles d’entrée et de balustrades, et même des certaines de charnières de porte. Paul Beau crée également le calendrier orné, l’encrier et la presse-sceau qui se trouvent sur le Bureau de greffier dans la Chambre des communes. Ces objets présentent une combinaison de métaux aux couleurs contrastées, caractéristique du travail de Beau.
Reference :
•’Our Commons Héritage’, Parliament of Canada ; Objects #O-2474 / Tisonnier – Lemasnie (dessinateur) • Paul Beau (artisan) /Paul Beau et l’équipe de l’atelier de ferronnerie (fabricant), Artistes: Gamble, Sheridan Lemasnie (dessinateur) années 1920,Matériels: métal, fer forgé, Contrôle de température,Code à barre603264
https://www.ourcommons.ca/heritage/fr/collection/20092
• Paul Beau & Co – Montreal, Canada Hammered Iron & Brass Desk Set c1915-1922
Paul Beau & Co – Montreal, Canada Hammered Iron & Brass Desk Set c1915-1922
ORIGIN & HISTORY OF THE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT IN CANADA
