Rare Pair of Nekrassoff Aluminum Art Nouveau Calla Lily Form Large Candle Holders. Nekrassoff was a Russian born American artist working during the Art Nouveau period. He worked in a very small studio, all items were made by hand and all items were basically one of a kind. Serge S. Nekrassoff, a Russian-American metal smith, was a private person who is presently almost unknown. Born on February 10, 1895, into a Russian family who lived near St. Petersburg, Nekrassoff, after receiving a military education, served in World War I as a captain in the Czar's Imperial Guard. In 1917, during the Russian Revolution, he fled on foot to Germany where he worked in a coal mine for 18 months. He then went to Paris, where he worked for three years with a metal smith who taught him to fashion basic everyday objects out of copper. Because he was a perfectionist, he eventually excelled in his work. In Paris he met American doughboys who impressed him, and he decided to go to the United States. Unfortunately, he had no passport. He realized his dream, however, by first going to Buenos Aires, where he opened his first metal shop, which he operated from 1923 to 1925. Passport in hand, Nekrassoff landed in Philadelphia in October 1925 but soon gravitated to the Russian community in New York City and opened a workshop on 14th Street in 1925. In 1932 Nekrassoff moved to Darien, Connecticut. Able to greatly expand his operation in this his third workshop, he now produced many different objects. In 1952 the family decided to move to Stuart, Florida, they had wintered there since 1939. They operated the shop in Stuart for 27 years. Serge Nekrassoff retired in 1979 after having worked as a metal smith for more than half a century. The business soon ceased to exist. He died in Stuart in December 1985." For the full article visit the Maine Antique Digest web site and search Nekrassoff through their archival search engine. 27 1/2" tall. Condition: good with normal wear.