Vever, Henri (1854 - 1942)

Jeweller and art collector. Henri Vever was born into a family of jewellers in 1854. His grandfather, Pierre Paul Vever, opened a jeweller’s shop in Metz in 1821. After the Peace of Frankfurt that ended the Prussian-French War, the Vever family moved in 1871 first to Luxembourg and then to Paris, where the head of the family, Jean-Jacques Ernest Vever, reopened the family jeweller’s shop under the name Maison Vever at 19 Rue de la Paix. Henri Vever studied at the Ecole des Art Décoratif in Paris, and in 1873 was admitted to the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he learned painting from Jean-Léon Gérôme, known for his major orientalist oeuvre. In 1881, he and his elder brother Paul took over the running of Maison Vever from their father and incorporated into their designs the Neo-Renaissance and Orientalist style, followed at the turn of the century by Art Nouveau. In the closing years of the 19th century, the jewellery company became well known throughout France and abroad. The Vevers made an appearance at the Paris World’s Fair in 1889 and won the Grand Prix, and at the next Paris World’s Fair, in 1900, they won second prize. Their jewellery also appeared at world’s fairs in Moscow (1891), Chicago (1893) and Brussels (1897). After his brother died, Henri Vever led the company on his own until his retirement in 1921. Henri Vever started building his art collection in 1885, with European and Islamic artworks and Asian, mainly Japanese, prints. Most of the latter are now held in the Tokyo National Museum and the Louvre. He is also known for his book on the history of jewellery, published in 1908, La bijouterie française au XIXe siecle (1800–1900). He died in the family estate in Noyers in 1942.