Ref.17390
Mantle garniture in the orientalist taste in gilt-bronze with polychrome porcelain decoration

Polished and varnished bronze, polychrome porcelainThis exquisite orientalist mantle garniture was inspired by an eclectic range of decorative source materials and is characteristic of French works of art produced in the 1880s. Fashioned in gilt-bronze and ornamented with porcelain polychrome plaques decorated with vegetal scrolls and cartouches inspired by Iznik enamels, the clock takes the form of a piece of miniature architecture. The clock face is framed by two columns whose capitals support an open foliated pediment directly inspired by Islamic monuments. The clock is accompanied by a pair of vases of Byzantine form, the sides of which are encircled with a porcelain band that echoes the clock’s decoration. The body of the vases is also ornamented with chased bronze of the highest quality. This beautifully chased bronze work comprises palmettos of stylized organic shapes and delicate scrollwork. Certain of the bronze elements are executed in openwork, such as the handles of the vases.    Although not signed, this garniture is inscribed “Paris” under the face of the clock, indicating that this exceptional piece was the work of a French manufacturer. Created around 1880, this set is characteristic of the taste for eclecticism, the divergent sources used and the wide ornamental vocabulary taken from many different periods and continents that created this arresting and original work of art. 

Ref.13458
Louis - Constant SEVIN & Ferdinand BARBEDIENNE - Beautiful pair of ornament vases in bronze and cloisonne enamel, circa 1862

This beautiful pair of vases is the result of the collaboration between Louis Constant Sevin (1821 – 1888), drawer and designer, and Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810 – 1892), bronze maker and founder of the famous 19th century foundry of the same name. Indeed, even though they are only bearing the signature of the last one, we can compare our vases to another pair presented on the Barbedienne's stand during the International Exhibition of London in 1862 depicting the same decor. We owe to the associations of the two men – which has lasted for more than thirty years, between 1855 and 1888 – an important collection of works of art and especially vases, showing the same colors and technical. Our ornamental vases were made in bronze and show an outstanding and abundant decoration of enamel cloisonne. The gilt bronze on the blue background and the polychromatic richness of the motif reminds of an imaginary and an inspiration coming from the East. They rest on three gilt bronze feet with cat's heads, finished with claws. We notice in the shape and the decoration an eastern inspiration but above all an eclectic one, characteristic of the artistic tendency in France under the Second Empire. Indeed, Constant Sevin was inspired by patterns belonging to the Arabic, or Persian decorative repertoires for the decoration. While the handles with cat's heads tend toward reminding Egypt, the technic of divided enamel dates back to Middle Ages. With the creation of this pair of vases Ferdinand Barbedienne and Constant Sevin participate to the reborn of champleve enamel in the middle of the 19th century. Indeed, the polychromatic decoration, omnipresent in the industrial arts during the Second Empire, finds in this technic a perfect expression. Inspired by examples of champleve enamels made during the Middle-Ages, this technic was innovated by obtaining directly during the melt the network of partitions to produce a draw of a irreproachable clarity and regularity. The first technical tries of Barbedienne were made near 1858 and four years after he presents in the Great Exhibition of London a stand mainly composed of works of art inlaid of enamels – very likely the model of our vase – which does not leave the critic indifferent. Alfred Darcel (1818 – 1893), art critic, said in his report on the Great Exhibition of 1862, published in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts : "Among the numerous works of art exhibited by Mr Barbedienne, we did not see anything more gripping than the objects decorated with enamels, kind of decoration he knew how to apply with success. […] With enamels painted that have conceded nothing to the most beautiful works of art of the 16th century first masters.[…] "

Ref.15587
Louis XVI style trumeau decorated with a frieze of scrolled acanthus leaves

Ref.15890
Napoleon III style gilded trumeau decorated with a frieze of oak leaves

Ref.12550
Pair of cast iron planters decorated with cartouches and lion heads

A pair of cast iron planters dating from the second half of the 19th century, preserved in their original green paint. Rectangular with a flared body, each planter is encircled by a twisted gadrooned border, punctuated at the corners by gadrooned spinning top ornaments. The sides are decorated with a central cartouche of scrolls enclosing a smooth oval medallion, underlined at its base by a lion's head medallion. Fruit swags adorn the corners, while the base, cut with scroll and shell motifs, rests on four hoof-shaped feet. The perforated bottom ensures drainage, indicating use directly in the ground for the ornamentation of gardens, terraces, or courtyards. This model, characteristic of the production of the great French art foundries of the Napoleon III era, testifies to the taste of the second half of the 19th century for the ornamental vocabulary of the Renaissance applied to the garden arts.