Note: In this post I discuss how I helped a researcher at the upcoming Guimard Museum in Paris trace a lace bedspread manufactured by Paul Mezzara. He was the owner of the Hôtel Mezzara where his embroidery business was based and where this Art Nouveau museum, built by the architect Hector Guimard, will be housed. I also explain why I was approached for help.
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POST 173: HISTORIC REMAINS OF A FAMILY “CASTLE” IN SOUTHWESTERN POLAND
In what clearly falls into one of the most unusual requests received since my blog’s inception in 2017, I was recently contacted by Ms. Louise Fiorio (Figure 1), a researcher working for the future Guimard Museum in Paris. Specifically, Louise is studying the Parisian lace manufacturer Melville & Ziffer that was active from roughly 1900 to 1915.
Briefly, a little background on the Guimard Museum and a few words on the lace manufacturer Melville & Ziffer and its founder, Paul Mezzara.
The Musée Guimard will be a new museum dedicated to the Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard. Scheduled to open in late 2027 or early 2028, the museum will be permanently housed in the Hôtel Mezzara in the Auteuil neighborhood of Paris’s XVIe arrondissement. While much less well known than Hector Guimard’s “metro” entrances, the Hôtel Mazzara is one of the architect’s most interesting buildings.
Paul Mezzara, for whom Hector Guimard built the Parisian mansion, was a painter born in France in 1866, who turned his enormous artistic skills to industrial art, founding a lace and embroidery company in Venice and then in Paris. This secured him a solid financial position. Having become a recognized figure in the field of decorative art, he was appointed vice-president of the “Societé des Artistes Décorateurs” in 1910, at the same time as Guimard. Paul Mezzara’s changing social status and his rapport with the architect made it possible and logical for him to commission his mansion that same year, 1910.
As the Guimard Museum’s website notes: “. . .the hôtel Mezzara reflects the evolution of Guimard’s style, which had become more subdued and elegant, while remaining faithful to the principles he had established in 1899. The facades and interior spaces display a decorative refinement. . . by an architect who knew how to forge alliances with industry, while still being able to produce priceless pieces such as the dining room furniture. . .”
Paul Mezzara founded his lace and embroidery manufacturing business, Melville & Ziffer, in 1891 after moving to Venice from Paris. It was a prominent, high-end fashion house that operated between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with factories and workshops located in France and Italy. According to Bruno Montamat, author of a book about Paul Mezzara: “Through lace, intended for the home and for women’s clothing, Mezzara was engaged in the revival of the French decorative arts. And in keeping with the philosophy behind the Arts & Crafts movement, he made sure his expensive lace production financed the more affordable lace production, making it available to all.”
The exact reasons for calling his lace firm Melville & Ziffer, instead of Mezzara, are not explicitly recorded. According to Montamat, Mezzara likely “. . .chose the name of Melville probably in reference to the author of Moby Dick, as he [Mezzara] had just fled the island of Île-de-Bréhat with his young sister-in-law, to settle in Venice.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: The details of this “juicy” escape are explained in Montamat’s book.) The surname “Ziffer” appears to be linked to S.U. Zanne (Auguste Vandekerkhove), one of Mezzara’s spiritual teachers. The name thus may have reflected Mezzara’s personal artistic identity, his mentor, and a strategic approach to positioning his lace company as a premier name in the Art Nouveau and decorative arts world.
After Mezzara returned to France in 1900, he had shops in Venice, San Rémo, Saint Moritz, Berlin, and Paris (Rue de Faubourg, Saint-Honoré), and sold lace through mail order and through haberdasheries. The private mansion Mezzara commissioned Hector Guimard to build in 1910 became a showcase for the decorative arts of his time.
Louise contacted me hoping I could help her locate a specific piece produced by Melville & Ziffer, a piece she described as follows: “a needle-lace bedcover, catalog reference no. 16152, measuring 2.3m x 2.53m, with 36 Venetian point medallions on an embroidered ground and a fine lily-of-the-valley lace border. The piece was personally exhibited by Paul Mezzara at the 5eme Salon de la Societé des Artistes Décorateurs in Paris in 1910 (published in the journal Art et Décoration, p. 123, displayed in a bedroom interior designed by Léon Jallot, with the bed itself by M. Gallot.)” (Figures 2-3)
Readers will rightly wonder what prompted Louise to contact me asking for my help to track down the provenience of this lace bedspread. Based on the information available to her, this bedcover was acquired by one of my relatives by marriage, Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch (1891-1954), most likely as part of her trousseau ahead of her 1914 marriage to Gerhard Bruck. (1885-1961) (Figure 4) According to Louise, the piece “is a beautiful reflection on Hilda’s taste on the eve of her wedding.”
To remind readers what I discussed in Post 179, in an unnecessarily cleverly titled post, Gerhard Bruck’s parents were Wilhelm Bruck (1849-1907) and Margarete von Koschembahr (1860-1946); Wilhelm Bruck was the youngest brother of my great-grandfather, Fedor Bruck (1834-1892). Following his marriage, under pressure from one of his von Koschembahr aunts, Gerhard adopted the baronial surname, initially in hyphenated form (Bruck-von Koschembahr), then upon his arrival in America completely dropping the Bruck cognomen. Thereinafter, this branch of the family has been known as von Koschembahrs. Gerhard Bruck (von Koschembahr) and Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch had 13 children, which is relevant to the challenge posed tracing the lace bedcover Louise inquired about. (Figure 5)
While the connection to both the von Koschembahr and von Zedlitz und Neukirch noble families was something previously known to me that greatly impressed my uncle Dr. Fedor Bruck (1895-1982) and something he carefully noted on his ancestral trees (Figure 6); this barely registers for me. As a few early pictures of my uncle on horseback attest, he fancied himself an aristocrat. (Figures 7-8)
Louise Fiorio surmised that the lace bedcover that was part of Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch’s wedding trousseau may have been among the family belongings the von Koschembahrs brought to New York aboard the SS Paris on October 1, 1938, and subsequently passed down to one of the thirteen children after Hilda’s death in 1954.
Over the years various members of the von Koschembahr wing have contacted me through my blog to share or ask for information. One of those individuals is Christopher von Koschembahr (Figure 9) who I introduced to readers in Post 173 as one of Gerhard and Hilda’s grandchildren. Louise asked me to place her in touch with Christopher hoping he could inquire among his relatives about the possible provenance of the lace bedcover. I was happy to comply, realizing that given the size of the von Koschembahr clan, the chances of tracing the piece would be remote.
I transmitted Louise’s request to Christopher shortly before Mother’s Day this year. In speaking with his mother on the occasion, Christopher mentioned Louise’s email. Astonishingly and as improbable as it seems, Christopher’s mother thought at one time she and her former husband, Dietrich E. F. Von Koschembahr (1929-1995), did have it. As Christopher announced: “well. . .at first I thought what are the odds our part of the tree would have it—given 13 brothers and sisters dividing up the household inheritance. . . but today as I wished my mom a Happy Mother’s Day—I just happen [sic] to mention this email—and to my surprise, she said she thinks we DID have it. . . what are the odds??”
When Christopher’s parents divorced, the putative bedcover was taken by his father. Christopher’s mother later found a photograph of it being used at the time as a cover over a four-poster bed. (Figure 10) He forwarded the photo to Louise who was able to unequivocally confirm this is the lace piece that she has been seeking, which was a very moving experience for her: “A lot of emotion seeing this photo: this is indeed the lace we have been looking for, without any doubt!” This was the good news.
The bad news is that the house where Dietrich von Koschembahr moved to upon his divorce was destroyed in a fire in 1995, an event that tragically killed Dietrich and likely resulted in the destruction of the lace bedcover. So, while the existence of the exquisite lace piece once owned by Hilda von Zedlitz und Neukirch was confirmed in the form of a photograph, its fate has also been determined.
REFERENCES
Harmsen, O. (2020 December 29). Hôtel Mezzara, 60 Rue de la Fontaine, Paris. About Art Nouveau. Hôtel Mezzara, 60 Rue Jean de la Fontaine, Paris | About Art Nouveau
Le Cercle Guimard. The future Guimard Museum within the Hôtel Mezzara (https://www.lecercleguimard.fr/en/our-actions/guimard-foundation-hotel-mezzara/)
Montamat, B. (2018). Paul Mezzara, 1866-1918 – un oublié de l’Art. Mare & Martin.
“Paul Mezzara.” (2024, December 4). In Wikipedia. Paul Mezzara – Wikipedia
“Point de Venise.” (2026, March 12). In Wikipedia. Point de Venise – Wikipedia