Henri Vever

In collaboration with illustrator Eugène Grasset, Vever created innovative jewelry pieces that received acclaim at the Exposition, including intricate designs inspired by European mythology. Vever was known for his innovative use of precious gemstones, such as rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, in contrast to other Art Nouveau jewelers who favored more affordable materials. Henri was also a collector of a broad range of fine art, including prints, paintings, and books of both European and Asian origin. He was a member of Les Amis de l'Art Japonais, a group of Japanese art enthusiasts including Claude Monet, that met regularly to discuss Japanese prints and other works over dinner. His collection was so well regarded that the authors of some of the pioneering European scholarly works on ukiyo-e used Vever's collection for much their research on actual prints. Such authors include von Seidlitz, Migeon, and Lemoisne, whose L'Estampe Japonaise used Vever's prints exclusively. In 1924, Vever donated approximately a hundred pieces created by Maison Vever along with 250 French jewelry pieces to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. This donation spanned jewelry from the French Revolution to 1900, underscoring Vever’s dedication to preserving France’s jewelry heritage At the peak of World War I, however, Vever chose (or was forced) to dispose of the bulk of his collection, selling some 7996 prints to the Japanese industrial mogul Matsukata Kōjirō, who purchased them sight-unseen based on the collection's reputation. The prints would eventually find their way to the Tokyo National Museum, forming the bulk of that institution's ukiyo-e corpus. Many of Vever's prints also ended up in the national museums of France, donated earlier by Vever himself. • Illustration — Timepiece by Henri and Paul Vever displayed at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889 Although the thousands of pieces that made their way back to Japan via Matsukata included many of the masterpieces of the ukiyo-e movement, Vever had kept many of his best prints for himself and continued to collect after the First World War, acquiring pieces from former rivals Gonse, Haviland, Manzi, Isaac, and Javal as their collections went to the auction houses of Paris. He stopped collecting in the 1930s, and his "legendary" collection disappeared the following decade amid World War II and the German occupation of France, not to reappear until 1974 when Sotheby's announced that the collection would be auctioned. Vever's grandson, François Mautin, competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics in the ice hockey tournament.

The recorded working language is French. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris. Positions recorded include Mayor of Noyers. Work by Henri Vever is recorded in the collections of Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Henri Vever is recorded as jewelry designer, art collector, entrepreneur, goldsmith and mayor. Recorded at birth as Jean Baptiste Eugène Henry Vever.