Ref.11354
Important display cabinet with dragon and mother-of-pearl decoration

This important Japanese-inspired display cabinet is adorned with panels of Southeast Asia manufacturing, decorated with mother-of-pearl inlays representing traditional scenes with characters, plants and flowers in vases. Opening with two glass doors, it is also richly decorated with engraved bamboo. The pediment is adorned with an imposing bronze threatening dragon and a flowering branch carved in the round. It rests claws feet, protected at the corners by a bronze dragon head.

Ref.15180
Baroque church altar and altarpiece of the 17th century

This large Baroque altarpiece was made for the chapel of the Chazeron Castle, near Clermont-Ferrand, in the 17th century. In the 11th century, there was already a keep on the site of Chazeron castle. The building was rebuilt and extended to become a castle by the end of the Middle Ages, as illustrated in 1460 by Guillaume Revel. In the second half of the 17th century, François de Monestay (1617-1697), Marquis of Chazeron, decided to modernise the medieval castle. He commissioned Jules Hardouin-Mansart to build two new wings and had the interiors panelled. The chapel's walnut altar dates from this remodelling. Above the altar itself is a high carved wood panel. In the centre is the tabernacle in the form of a small temple in the style of Antiquity, flanked by composite fluted pilasters; it is surmounted by two unicorns framing the arms of the commissioner, themselves crowned by an angel. On either side, set against painted niches, are two statues of saints framed by four eminently Baroque twisted columns, around which vine stocks evoke the wine offered during the sacrifice of the Mass. The side columns are flanked by fire pots, while the two central columns are topped by praying angels. In the centre is a low relief depicting God the Father blessing, in line with the tabernacle. François de Monestay's coat of arms is easy to identify, because it can also be seen on a canvas painted after Hyacinthe Rigaud's portrait of the Marquis de Chazeron, kept at the Hôtel de Noailles in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The coat of arms is surmounted by a crown of a marquis and surrounded by the collars of the Order of Saint-Michel and the Order of the Holy Spirit, which he was awarded following a heroic charge against the enemy at the age of 77. The altar can therefore be dated to the 1690s. Although classical art triumphed in Paris and Versailles in the 17th century, border areas and the countryside adopted Italian artistic models. This altarpiece features a structure often used for Baroque altars, although in this case there is a certain sobriety, particularly in terms of polychromy. Although the richness of the altarpiece lies primarily in its abundant sculpted ornamentation, the addition of a sky-blue background highlights the tabernacle, the sculptures of the saints and the top of the altarpiece, and gives depth to the whole, in a very Baroque style. Finally, the twisted columns intertwined with vines are inspired by the baldachin designed by Bernini for the altar in St Peter's Basilica in Rome between 1624 and 1633. Therefore, the altar and altarpiece in the chapel at Château de Chazeron are a fine example of the penetration of Baroque art in France in the second half of the Grand Siècle.

Ref.15672
Louis XV Style Carved Oak Boiserie with Antique Elements

This magnificent carved oak panelling dates from the Louis XV period with elements from the 18th century. It was readapted in the 19th century. The panels are curved and decorated with acanthus leaves and palmettes. The wood panelling includes two double doors of the same size and a larger central double door. The fireplace, the trumeau and the cornices shown in the photos are not part of the panelling.