Ref.11220
Pair of gilt bronze and blue and pink porcelain chandeliers dating from the Napoleon III reign

This pair of Napoleon III chandeliers in porcelain and gilt bronze was crafted in France around 1860. Each chandelier is centered around a porcelain stem, one in pink and the other in turquoise blue. From the lower level, sixteen light arms extend, following the seemingly irregular and asymmetrical curves of remarkably chiseled acanthus leaves that adorn them. The ornamentation ends at the lower part with a delicate gilt bronze pendant featuring four small flowers in relief. The differences in levels among the light fixtures, and the ornamentation with curves and counter-curves, belong to the Rocaille style, which was popular in the first part of Louis XV's reign (1723-1774). However, the curved shapes of the central porcelain shaft only appeared during the reign of Charles X (1824-1830). Thus, these objects fit perfectly into the decorative arts trends under Napoleon III (1852-1870).

Ref.15009
Conrad KIESEL (after), Japonist portrait of a woman wearing a kimono, circa 1880

This portrait of a European woman dressed in the manner of a Japanese woman, set against a Japonisant backdrop, was probably executed after a work by the German painter Conrad Kiesel, displaying the same features. Several copies of this work, executed like ours in oil painted on embossed leather, were however attributed to Franz Schier. Against a background of embossed leather decorated with motifs of flowers, butterflies (a symbol of eternity in Far Eastern cultures) and dragons, a woman with European features stands out, dressed in the Japanese manner: she wears a short-sleeved kimono (known as a tomesode) fastened by an obi (a wide Japanese sash) tied at the back. Her hair is arranged with a butterfly-shaped comb and chopsticks, and she holds a fan in her right hand. Her bracelet, however, owes more to Orientalism than to Japonisme. In the lower right corner, her legs appear caught in a bush of pink flowers, thus justifying the imbalance of her posture. The enthusiasm born in the second half of the nineteenth century, notably following the reopening of Japan to international trade and its participation in the 1867 Universal Exhibition, took the name of "Japonisme". It sparked a genuine revolution in Western art, strongly inspiring numerous artists across all fields. This work bears witness to the powerful influence of Japanese art on Western creations at the end of the nineteenth century, both in subject and in execution, notably in the deliberate absence of depth and perspective, tempered however by the presence of the flowers.