Ref.11656
Large 19th century bracket clock featuring Hermes and his caduceus

This large bracket clock, made at the end of the 19th century, is made out of richly carved oak wood. Its decoration features Hermes' head and a caduceus in the upper part, a horn of abundance on either side and a shell in the lower part. The dial, with Roman numbers, is in embossed work brass. The Latin word caduceus comes from the Greek kêrukeion which is the "badge of herald" or "stick of the herald". The herald is an officer carrying messages, an annunciator. To reward him for having offered him his lyre and for having made him his syrinx (flute of Pan), Apollon gave to Hermes the caduceus, a gold wand so that he was the messenger of the Gods. As he traveled the slopes of Mount Cithéron, the young god Hermes (Mercury) saw two serpents fighting each other. He threw the caduceus he had received from Apollo to separate them. The snakes then wrapped around this stick, stopped fighting, and stopped facing each other. The caduceus is also called "stick of Arcadia" because it is in Arcadia that Hermes separated the two serpents who fought each other.

Ref.12064
Woman with amphora, cast iron statue with bronze patina by the Durenne foundry, 19th century

The base is signed "A. Durenne Paris". We find the model of this woman with the amphora in the Durenne foundry's catalog of 1868.

Ref.11991
Auguste MOREAU, The Crayfish Fisherman, circa 1902

This statue in Carrara statuary marble was sculpted by Auguste Moreau around 1902. Auguste Moreau (1834-1917) belonged to a distinguished lineage of sculptors. He was the son of Jean-Baptiste-Louis-Joseph Moreau and brother to the renowned Mathurin Moreau, who appear to have been his mentors. Auguste was also the father of two sculptor sons. Both a painter and sculptor, he exhibited frequently at the Salons from 1866 to 1909. The child is seated on a rock covered with algae, beside the water. His pose is dynamic and slightly off-balance: his right leg is bent backward, while his left leg stretches over the water. His left hand rests on his right leg, holding a stick with which he pulls a crayfish by its claw. The child’s head, framed by long curls, is tilted downward, and he gazes at his catch with a faint smile. Special attention was given to textures, with the child’s smooth skin contrasting against the algae and the rough surface of the stick. The work is signed on the side and bears an inscription. The plaster of this statue was presented to the public at the 1902 Salon, catalogued as number 2725. The artist explored similar themes featuring children and small animals in several other works, including Child with warblers, presented at the 1878 Salon, Child with a Frog in 1893 and Happy Fisherman in 1895.

Ref.4214
Antique Louis XV period mantel in Rance red marble, 18th century

This Louis XV period mantel was made of Rancel red marble in the 18th century. The paneled jambs with cut off jambs support an entablature adorned with oblong moldings and a beautiful stylized shell. The sides can be made in trompe l'oeil on request.

Ref.12719
Statue of a young musician faun in composite stone, 20th century

This statue depicting a young faun put on a squared terra cotta pedestal was made at the beginning of the 20th century in composite stone. It's a child faun that is depicted here, recognizable thanks to his legs and hears taking the ones of a goat. He's holding in his hands cymbals that he's banging against one another.

Ref.13131
Important Louis XVI style trumeau in painted wood and stucco with laurel garland

This important trumeau was made in the late 19th century in wood and stucco painted in white. The frame decoration takes motifs from the Louis XVI style, we especially find in each corner, the rose. On the upper part, laurel leaves garlands are escaping from it to fall along the mirror, while on the lower part, acanthus plants are climbing on the sides. The mirror is also framed with small friezes.

Ref.4766
Musgrave & Co mannheim - Enameled cast iron stove adorned with views of important buildings in the Palatinate, Germany, circa 1900

This original Art Nouveau style enameled cast iron stove is a German work of the company Musgrave & Co dating from the beginning of the 20th century. Product of the industrial revolution, Musgrave & Co. was an Irish company making stoves located in Belfast. Founded in the mid 1840’s as a hardware merchant, it quickly develops a patent on the stove with slow combustion adapted to barns. In 1899, the brand was became widely known and a second factory was built in Mannheim, in Germany, with added exhibition rooms in Paris and Frankfort. Not only has settled and furnished the heat system for the Impress Frederic of Germany’s stables, but also for the King of Spain, and many British lords. Germany had a particularly enthusiast clientele for the very decorative stoves models as ours, it was also the only country in which they were sold. The decoration of our stove pays tribute to the Palatinate region as indicates the inscription «  Fröhlich Pfalz Gott erhalt's » literally meaning Happy Palatinate God saves it, through representation of emblematic monuments of the region. Indeed, we can recognize on the main side, the Speyer Cathedral, built in 1030 by Conrad II (v.990-1039) today registered in the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Also, it is the biggest Roman cathedral of the world. On the right side, is depicted the Godesburg castle, built in the 13th century on a volcanic hill and partially destroyed after the 1583 siege in the beginning of the Cologne War. Finally, we can see on the left side the Tower of Andernach, defensive tower built between 1440 and 1453.

Ref.5137
Important Neo-Renaissance syle mantel carved in walnut wood and oak

Ref.14304
Trumeau with flower garland decoration in the Louis XVI style

Ref.14036
A briefcase with precious porcelain decoration by Julien-Nicolas RIVART

An extremely rare piece, our leather briefcase features a very fine porcelain marquetry decoration. This is a very original work, Rivart porcelain is usually inlaid on pieces of wooden furniture. Its decorations form real flower paintings. The object transforms into jewelry. Covered in leather, this document holder has two compartments lined with moiré fabrics. Porcelain brings delicacy and shine to matte leather. Rivart, a great name in decorative arts during the Second Empire, had renewed the art of marquetry by replacing the traditional wooden veneer with fine porcelain marquetry. In the 1850s, Rivart was praised in the press for his patent and his technical mastery. His patent provided for the inlay of porcelain on different supports, such as wood, cardboard, leather or velvet and even marble, but very few of his creations have come down to us apart from furniture.

Ref.15269
Émile HÉBERT, The Champion, circa 1890

The Champion was created by Émile Hébert around 1890. The sculptor Émile Hébert (Paris, 1828-1893) first learned sculpture from his father, Pierre Hébert (1804-1869), and then from Jean-Jacques Feuchère (1807-1852). He participated in the Salons, where he was particularly noticed in 1859, and in the World's Fairs. The Champion is a bronze statuette with a silver patina, depicting a victorious rower with a joyful expression, saluting an invisible crowd with his cap in his right hand while still holding an oar in his left hand. He is dressed in a sports jersey and knee-length pants. The long, slender lines of the skiff rest on waves still stirred by the movement of the boat. The plaque on the base indicates the title of the work: “Le Champion”. The skiff is one of the few rowing events that have always been part of the Olympic disciplines, although events have sometimes had to be canceled due to bad weather. Like a self-referential piece, The Champion can be a trophy intended to be awarded to the winner of a skiff race. This function is even clearer for another version of the sculpture sold by Coutau-Bégarie in 2019, whose base indicates that it is a trophy for the Coupe de Paris 1898, a competition held on the Seine that year. Hébert created at least one other sports-related work in his career: it is Bare-Knuckle Fight, also called The Boxers. This suite different work was sold by Coutau-Bégarie in 2021. It depicts the fight between two men, whose musculature and movements suggest the power of the blow delivered at that moment. Here, the men are in action, in the violence of the sporting effort. However, the sculpture does not require as much technical knowledge of the sport as the one representing the skiff.

Ref.14809
SÈVRES Manufacture, Josse-François-Joseph LERICHE (after), Le Billet doux, 1892

This enameled porcelain statuette was executed at the Sèvres manufactory in 1892, based on a model by Josse-François-Joseph Leriche. Josse-François-Joseph Leriche (1738-1812) worked at the Sèvres manufactory between 1757 and 1801. He directed the sculpture workshop from 1780. He created the group called Le Billet doux, which was produced at the Sèvres manufactory in biscuit from 1751/1752. In this pair of statues, the man extends a note to the woman beside him, who is richly dressed in an imaginative orientalizing costume and holds a fan in her hand. Our sculpture corresponds to the figure of the man from this pair. The man, with black skin, is dressed in a brown tunic, the many folds of which are left in reserve. He is enveloped in a large mantle of a dark red shaded with blue and green. His turban presents the same shades. The fringe of the mantle and the details of the tunic demonstrate the sculptor and designer’s great attention to detail. The man was also reissued independently of his companion from 1881. This sculpture, titled “Kislar Agassi” (the chief of the eunuchs guarding the Ottoman sultans’ seraglio), depicts a character identical in every way to the original man, except that he does not hold a billet doux in his hand. A bronze edition of this version was sold at Tajan in 2020. From the first half of the 18th century, Europeans were fascinated by foreign cultures and were inspired by them in art, often in a fanciful manner. This interest in oriental, Far Eastern, or, as here, African cultures persisted throughout the 19th century. This enduring interest explains the longevity of Leriche’s model, which continued to be reissued from 1751 to at least 1892, the date of our sculpture. Under the base, the mark of the Sèvres manufactory indicates that the sculpture dates from 1892; it is crossed out, indicating that this piece was set aside due to a minor defect in its execution. The sculpture bears a second inscription: 51 st. Furthermore, part of the billet doux that the man was holding is now missing.

Ref.15432
Twenty-Four-Arm Chandelier Based on Château de Versailles Chandeliers, 20th century

This cage chandelier with twenty-four arms of light was made in the second half of the 20th century on a model identical to certain chandeliers at the Château de Versailles. The top of the chandelier forms a flared bowl in gilded metal reflecting the light; it is accompanied by rods embellished with rosettes and poly-lobed crystals of various shapes. The top of the cage is formed by waves of gilded metal ending in Art Deco-style pendants or crystal balusters topped with daggers. The body of the chandelier tapers before unfolding fully. The curves and counter-curves are always punctuated by the presence of crystals: balusters topped with daggers, Art Deco pendants and wave-shaped arms of light whose ends are adorned with basins in the shape of flower corollas supporting dummy candles. A ball carved with ovals and a rosette (below) hangs from the lower end of the chandelier. The Art Deco pendants are electrified. This chandelier was executed after a model made repeatedly in the Château de Versailles, which can be found in the Salon de Mars and in the antechamber of the Grand Couvert in the Grands Appartements for example. These were executed by Baguès in 1863-1864, as a copy of a chandelier in the collections. Despite minor differences, the mounts of these chandeliers are identical, and the ornamentation is very similar (with the exception of the Art Deco decorations).