Beautiful , Pair of P. Mori & Son Galvano Bronze Art Deco Bookends.

Beautiful , Pair of P. Mori & Son Galvano Bronze Art Deco Bookends.

USA 1920s

Size 24x13x9 cm

weight 2.2 kg.

The beginning of commercially produced electroformed art metal in the United States is generally attributed to the firm of P. Mori and Sons of New York City in the late 1880s.  They coined the term “Galvano Bronze” to describe the process.  The company catered to the growing market in search of high-quality but relatively inexpensive bronze castings of ancient and contemporary sculpture.  Also, a large amount of religious statuary used in churches and homes at the turn of the century were made of Galvano Bronze.

Companies using the Galvano process during the 1920s and 1930s included P. Mori and Sons’ Galvano Bronze, Pompeian Bronze, Armor Bronze, Marion Bronze, Kathodion Bronze Works and LaFrance Bronze Arts.

The tell-tale identifier of old original bronze-clad bookends is the indentation or de-pression on the underside of each bookend showing where the hanging wire was cut off.