Ref.10466
Antique Louis XV style firescreen in gilt bronze with birds and music instruments decoration

Beautiful antique Louis XV style firescreen made out of gilt bronze during the 19th century. Curved lines with shells and foliages. Decorated with birds and music instruments.

Ref.11549
A pair of ceramic panels with birds in a lacustrine scenery signed "J. ENGEL"

Important pair of ceramic panels with cloisonned enamels made in the second half of the 19th century. Birds, silver pheasants, butterflies and dragonflies spread out in a lake landscape with water lilies, cherry blossoms, peonies... Bright colors, with beautiful shades of pink and green, animate these panels whose decor is directly inspired by extreme-oriental works of art and vogue for Japanism ( Japonisme ). The cloisonned enamel technique on earthenware which consists of separating the different enamels by a line called "cerne", was invented by ceramist Eugène Collinot and patented by him in 1864. Proof of the success of the cloisonned enamels by Collinot, our panels that use this technique are signed on the back by "J. ENGEL, 31 & 33 rue de la Roquette in Paris".

Ref.11404
Japanese style cachepot in glazed earthenware with medallion decoration of animated life scenes

Glazed earthenware cachepot with engraved decoration including four quadrilobed medallions adorned with scenes from everyday life: men fishing, go game, Japanese calligraphy, men chatting. Between the medallions unfolds a decor of interlacing and flowers on a blue background characteristic of the Japanese decorations. This cachepot was made in France during the 19th century.

Ref.11450
Rudolf ERNST (1854-1932) - Portrait of a high-ranking Austro-Hungarian dignitary

This extraordinary portrait was painted by Rudolf Ernst according to a very particular and very innovative technique. It is indeed painted porcelain including a metallic mesh. The work depicts, on an ocher background, an elderly man, with a long white beard and bushy eyebrows. His gaze - a bluish gray - is fixed on the spectator. Richly dressed, he wears an emerald green velvet doublet embellished with brown fur at collar, armholes and sleeves. These velvet sleeves open on a beautiful gilded fabric (probably silk) puffed on the upper part and tightening above the elbow. He wears a green velvet hat with exposed lapels covered with fur. All these elements indicate the rank of the man represented: no doubt he is a high dignitary or a member of the Austro-Hungarian nobility. In the present state of our research and according to our knowledge, it is difficult for us to give a date to this work but it could have been exhibited at the World’s Fair of 1889 during which the artist was awarded a bronze medal. Rudolf Ernst is a French-Austrian painter. Born in Vienna in 1854, his father was a painter and architect. He was a member of the Vienna Fine Art Academy where Rudolf Ernst entered as a student in 1869. In 1874, he left the Academy to complete his training in Rome before moving to Paris in 1876. He exhibited regularly, after 1877, at the Salon of French Artists, realizing, at first, genre scenes and portraits. He travels to Spain, Morocco and Turkey, where he paints portraits of Ottoman characters from the royal court. His orientalist paintings are the best known part of his work. He devoted himself to Orientalism in 1885, creating interiors of mosques or harems, chess players, hookah smokers and even beautiful odalisques. Particularly productive in the 1890s, Ernst was successful and received a bronze medal at the World's Fair of 1889 and a medal of honor at the World’s Fair of 1900. From his trip to Constantinople in 1890, he learned how to improve his production of earthenware tiles, a technique he had learned in Paris from Léon Fargue, a ceramist and glassmaker. His faience tiles are not only orientalist: he includes characters from the Commedia dell'Arte or the Renaissance. However, these works are of a reduced format, unlike our portrait which dimensions and technique reveal a particularly rare work.

Ref.11438
Ignac FISCHER - Chinese style jardiniere, in earthenware and gilded bronze

This jardiniere, made in the 19th century, is signed FISCHER J. in Budapest (Hungary). Square in shape, it has a polychrome decoration of Chinese floral motifs. The chased, gilded and openwork bronze neck and base are joined by two stylized dragon-shaped holds, the foot adopting the shape of elephant head. Ignác Fischer acquired his knowledge in his father's ceramics factory in Tata-Tóváros, Hungary, and then founded his own workshop in Pest in 1864. At first, he only decorated porcelains which were made in other factories but very soon, in 1867, he produced his own ceramics. Similar to Zsolnay, Fischer also specializes in the production of ornamental ceramics. He knows success in his country and in the world thanks to his dishes in majolica. But Fischer is also famous by the production of pieces decorated with Chinese motifs that he presents at the Hungarian Exhibition of 1885. This jardiniere is undoubtedly part of this series. He wins several important awards. His son Emil took over the direction of the factory, but soon it became the property of the Zsolnay factory in Pécs, in southwestern Hungary.

Ref.11866
Neo-Renaissance style cupboard in walnut carved with portraits in medallions

Neo-Renaissance style cupboard in carved walnut made in the 19th century. It opens with four drawers and two leaves decorated with profiles carved in bas-relief.

Ref.12406
Antique fireback with lion and deer from the 17th century

Large cast iron fireback from the 17th century decorated with a coat of arms framed by a lion and a deer standing on their paws.

Ref.4340
Remarkable and monumental Flemish Neo-Renaissance style fireplace, second half of the 19th century

This monumental fireplace was made in Belgian Petit Granit in the second half of the 19th century inspired by the Flemish Renaissance art answering the revival vogue of this period. Our fireplace shows a very rich sculpted decor and gilt bronze ornamentation. The curved jambs are sculpted with large fluted scrolls surmounted by bronze capitals with arabesque decoration. Ths sides are also adorned with a beautiful sculpted decor of acanthus leaves scrolls and roses. The jambs are holding a large entablature made of Brèche Sanguine, the Petit Granit console architectural elements form the pattern of its decor that keeps going on each side. Six of them are adorned with a standing lion, the mouth opened and holding between his paws a shield, they support a large moulding cornice decorated with an acanthus leaves frieze. The entablature is also adorned with four painted medallions depicting portraits in bronze frames and a romantic scene flanked by two stylized dolphins in scrolls decoration. Many stylized fleur-de-lys are decorating the cast iron insert framed by a gilt bronze openwork frieze surmounted on its center by a bronze dragon in haut-relief. The cast iron fireback depicts a salamander in flames that we can compare to the emblem of Francis I, famous king of the French Renaissance.

Ref.12898
Cast iron fireback from the Renaissance period adorned with a medallion

This fireback was made in cast iron in the 16th century. It is adorned with a medallion in which two men dressed with a simple fabric are standing. At their feet we can see a horn of plenty. They both are holding a crown in one hand above the head of one of them. The medallion is framed with a decoration of scrolls and garlands hold by the mouth of four mascarons in each corner.

Ref.13648
Large fireback with the coat of arms of France and Navarre supported by lions, 18th century

This large fireback cast in the 18th century is adorned with coat of arms of France and Navarre supported by lions and surrounded by a decor of curls and acanthus leaves.

Ref.13210
Modern fireback with the France coat of arms

This cast iron fireback is moderne work from a 17th century original. In a hexagonal shape, our firebasck is dated 1662 and adorned with the France coat of arms composed of the three fleur-de-lis and surmounted by a Royal crown in a laurel leaves branches surround.

Ref.13257
Fireback with the French Coat of Arms

This fireback from the 19th century is adorned with the France coat of arms, the three Fleur-de-lys surmounted with the royal crown surrounded by palms

Ref.13231
Cast iron fireback with a Putti decoration

This fireback was made of cast iron in the 19th century. It is adorned with a central medallion framed by a Rococo decoration depicting four putti playing around a fire.

Ref.13281
Fireback "The Fishermen"

Cast iron fireback depicting two fishermen by the sea. The figure on the left is holding a filled basket in his right hand, while the figure on the right is holding a net, thrown into the water, with both hands. The two figures are framed by two boats.

Ref.13566
Louis XV style fireback with the coat of arms of France

Cast iron fireback from the early 20th century, with the coat of arms of the House of Bourbon, a royal house of French origin that became a major dynasty in Europe, with kings in Spain (Navarre), France, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Parma. Bourbon kings ruled in France from 1589 until the French Revolution, and for short periods thereafter. The coat of arms consists of a crown surmounting a medallion adorned with three fleur-de-lis, a symbol of purity and royalty. The palm leaves, placed on either side of the medallion, symbolise victory.

Ref.14644
Pair of large marble vases decorated with theatre masks

Pair of marble vases decorated with the theme of ancient theatre, made in marble in the 20th century. The top is decorated with foliage and a frieze of oves. Each side has three sculpted faces representing a man with a turban framed by two theatre masks symbolising comedy and tragedy. The surround is carved with two branches of vines tied with a ribbon and framed by two continuous mouldings. Underneath, garlands are hung with antique theatre masks. Musical instruments are depicted in slight relief on the side. The lower part of the vases is decorated with a frieze of arrows. They stand on a base sculpted with various decorative motifs.

Ref.13979
MIR in Lyon, set of four cast-iron tank doors

Ref.15033
SÈVRES Manufacture, Pair of Chameleon Vases of the Persian Bottle Model, 1874

This pair of porcelain vases of the Persian bottle model was made at the Sèvres manufactory in 1874. The “Persian bottle vase” model, created at the Sèvres manufactory in 1874 based on a Persian metal prototype, exists in several versions that vary in color and decoration. It is among the most characteristic of the manufactory’s production under the Third Republic. One can perceive the direct influence of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887) in the design of these vases. A sculptor and student of David d’Angers, Carrier-Belleuse exhibited at the Salon starting in 1851. He worked in all genres with remarkable inventiveness. He provided several form models to English and Limoges ceramic factories and was the director of art works at Sèvres from 1875 until his death in 1887, completely renewing forms and decorations by introducing a new range of vases that achieved great success at the 1884 Exposition of the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. These two examples, forming a pair, are ovoid in shape with a long tapered neck with a quarter-round median ring. They feature an elaborate decor of Persian motifs in gold powder, with interlacing and arabesques on the body and decorated fillets on the neck. The lavender color is unique, changing depending on the light it is exposed to, from purple/grey in daylight to pale pink in artificial light. This is due to the use of the so-called “chameleon” paste invented in 1848 by the Sèvres manufactory chemist Alphonse Louis Salvetat for the 1862 Universal Exhibition. A mixture of vanadium oxide and cerium oxide allows this change of color according to its exposure to light. Exceptionally, these vases are neither signed nor bear any mark of the manufactory. However, they have an inscription that leaves no doubt as to their origin or date: “EXPOSITION DES BEAUX-ARTS. / F. BUON / INSPECTOR OF FINE ARTS / Head of the Exhibitions Service / 1874”. Frédéric Buon was already an inspector of Fine Arts in 1870-1871 and later remained an honorary inspector. Therefore, these are commemorative vases, made especially for the 1874 Fine Arts Exhibition. Similar vases to ours, although without an inscription, are referenced in a book published in 2012 by the Brian Haughton gallery, A Sense of Pleasure. A similar model, kept at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, is referenced in Second Empire and Third Republic, from Audacity to Jubilation by Brigitte Ducrot, published in 2008 in the Sèvres, a Ceramic History collection. Another pair of vases, of the same model and with the same glaze, listed by the British Antique Dealers’ Association, bears an inscription similar to the one of interest to us: “EXPOSITION DES BEAUX-ARTS / ROUSSEAU (PH) / Member of the Jury, Painting Section / 1874”. The painter Philippe Rousseau was a painter of landscapes, still-lifes, and animals, who had been awarded several medals at the Salon. In 1874, he was an accomplished and recognized painter, and thus was appointed to the painting jury for the Fine Arts Exhibition. Moreover, a different pair of vases, of a different model but bearing a similar inscription, was sold in 2023: these are Sèvres pedestal vases in blue kiln porcelain enhanced with gold, bearing the inscription “EXPOSITION DES BEAUX-ARTS. / VTE DELABORDE / OF THE INSTITUTE / Member of the Jury. Engraving Section. / 1873”. These vases are signed and dated. The Viscount Henri Delaborde (1811-1899) was first a history painter, then, when he had to give up painting, he became a renowned art historian. For a long time a curator in the Prints Department of the Imperial Library (now the National Library of France), he was naturally asked to be part of the engraving jury in 1873, an event commemorated by these vases and their inscription. These numerous examples of commemorative vases suggest that on the occasion of at least two Fine Arts Exhibitions, in 1873 and 1874, the jury members and other organizers of the event were given a vase from the Sèvres manufactory, probably as a token of appreciation for their involvement in the event. It is even possible that, since the two vases dated 1874 are of the same model, a different model was selected each year for this purpose.

Ref.5577
Louis XVI style mantel in Arabescato marble decorated with a frieze of pearls

Ref.5706
Louis XV style Pompadour mantel in Rouge du Nord marble