Born in 1889, Jean Després began an academic apprenticeship at the age of 14 with a Parisian goldsmith. It is in this city in full industrial expansion that he draws his inspiration: attracted by the modernity of forms and materials, he immediately appears as an audacious and innovative artist. It was by frequenting the artists of the moment – Picasso, Modigliani, Braque – that he discovered Futurism and Cubism, which also inspired his work and took him even further away from the traditional vision of goldsmithing.

In 1914, when France had just entered the Great War, Jean Després was forced to work as an industrial designer in the workshops of the military aviation. This experience would deeply inspire his work as a goldsmith once the war was over, when he returned to Avallon, the town of his childhood, to set up his workshop.

Endowed with an exceptional talent, he aspires to transmit the aesthetic modernity of his time. He regularly and assiduously participated in the various salons and exhibitions held in Paris and soon made him known to the public.