Ref.11458
Japanese style crystal engraved vide-poche and gilded bronze frame with elephant heads

Small crystal engraved vide-poche inserted in a gilded bronze mount imitating bamboo and figuring elephant heads. French work of the 19th century.

Ref.13630
Maison GIROUX and Ferdinand DUVINAGE - Exceptional and rare cup with waders with iridescent glass and electroplated decor, circa 1870-1880

This cup made in the 1870-1880’s by the maison Giroux, as indicates the signature on the mount, is a piece extremely rare because of the material used. Indeed, few models with iridescent glass are known today. The Japanese inspiration of the decor and the model of our cup indicate that it is a creation of Ferdinand Duvinage who takes the direction of the maison Giroux between 1867 and 1876, then taken by his widow when he dies. This store which was originally selling all kind of supplies and small objects such as paints, varnishes, albums, writing-papers, fans, toys, boxes and souvenirs, but also lithographs, drawings and watercolors, considerably developed in the first decades of the 19th century. First, because they count among the clients, important persons such as the Duchesse de Berry, Louis XVIII or even Charles X, then by the drive given by Alphonse Giroux’s sons who joined the firm in 1833. Thus, Alphonse-Gustave Giroux, the eldest son, had the idea to sell small furniture. Even though he was an artist himself, he worked like furniture dealers of the 18th century, with artists who did not have the right to put their signature and exerted a hold over the design of the creation that he chose. He also decided to move the store in the new Opera district on the corner of the 43 boulevard des Capucines and the 24 rue Neuve des Capucines in 1855. On this same year, the company which had already won medals for the quality of its production during previous events, sells during the World Fair, to the Impress Eugénie, a bonheur du jour, conserved today in the château de Compiègne. In 1867, the store direction is given to Ferdinand Duvinage, Harinkouck and Brune. Little things are known about Harinkouck and Brune who seem to have been associated for a short period of time as Duvinage remains the only one in 1874. Ferdinand Duvinage (1813-1876) who seems to be cousin with Alphonse-Gustave Giroux, joins the company during a few years before taking its direction, without changing the name. He files in 1874, 1876 and 1877 patents for a marquetry technique of mosaic with metallic partitioning for furniture and art objects. His method is really original because it involves the combined union of ivory as a base, wood for the designs or ornaments, and copper or other metal to partitioning the ivory fragments. The firm continues to participate to World Fairs where they win many medals, even though they are not that much mentioned by the critics, we know that the productions with the Japanese vocabulary created under the direction of Duvinage were also very appreciated and were a real commercial success. As said above, our cup takes the form of a very known Duvinage model, of which the decor was made with the cloisonne ivory marquetry, invented in 1874. Here, the silvered mount, taking the shape o three waders, supports the iridescent glass cup covered with a decor made according to the electroplated method, famous thanks to Christofle. The motif of which the vivid colors are suggested by many shades created by the proceed and the painting, is composed of a wader in a very luxurious natural decor where are coexisting insects, lizard and different Japanese plants. The scene is made particularly naturalist thanks to the precision given to the many details, which are not only on the visible side of the cup but also under it. Indeed, when we turn over the cup, we can admire the splendid mount taking the shape of blooming cherry tree branches, of which the colors are again given by the electroplated proceed, joining the feet by a medallion on the center where we can read the signature.

Ref.14668
Portrait of Hans Holbein, a wood marquetry painting attributed to FOURDINOIS

This original wood marquetry painting in relief depicts a portrait of Hans Holbein, a German Renaissance painter and engraver. It is framed in blackened wood with the pure, architectural forms typical of the neo-Renaissance style. The frame bears the identity of the artist, who is portrayed in profile, in keeping with the tradition of medals during the Renaissance. This work is attributed to the Fourdinois firm, run by Alexandre and Henri Fourdinois, famous for its 19th-century decorative arts. The name of this cabinetmaker, which has won numerous awards at the Universal Exhibitions, is associated with the triumphant luxury of the Second Empire. This neo-Renaissance portrait is part of the cult of figures from the past, from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, that characterised 19th-century historicism. It is no coincidence that they paid tribute to Holbein, a painter who also fascinated the writers Jules Verne and Honoré de Balzac. The Fourdinois family had a real passion for the Renaissance. En plein marquetry was invented by Henri Fourdinois and patented in 1864. This technique is based on the inlay of wood in all its thickness, giving the sculptor a surface that can be worked in both hollow and relief.

Ref.11451
BACCARAT, Pair of square vases with cherry blossoms and birds, circa 1880

The great transparency of the crystal highlights the fine gold enameled decoration executed on the surface of the vases. Their square shape is characteristic of the manufacture's production at that time. Founded under Louis XV, the French crystal factory Baccarat demonstrated its excellence at Universal Exhibitions throughout the 19th century. On the vases, two cherry trees in bloom respond to each other in axial symmetry. One is covered in leaves, while the other is only flowered. The very fine details of the decoration are executed in relief. The influence of Japonism is perceptible in the choice of iconography and in the execution of the decor. The Baccarat crystal factory, innovative in its early embrace of Japonism, created a free-standing bottle between 1880-1890 in blown crystal, kept at the Musée d'Orsay. Its enameled and gold-rimmed decorations on the transparent crystal are the result of work identical to that of this vase. Baccarat also designed a vase very close to ours in form and in the implementation of the technique, with a turtle decoration of eminently Far Eastern inspiration.

Ref.15693
Friedrich EGERMANN, Lithyalin glass vase (between 1832 and 1864)

This vase, with its translucent red appearance and fluorescent green base, features ten facets along a small body and a long neck—a shape typical of the Biedermeier style. Biedermeier was an artistic movement that emerged in Germany and Austria around 1814 and gradually faded by 1848. It reflected a new bourgeois lifestyle and way of thinking in Central Europe during the first half of the 19th century. Everything suggests that this vase was indeed produced by Friedrich Egermann: from its distinctive shape to its so-called “lithyalin” decoration. It was this very technique, invented by the glassmaker himself, that brought him fame. Bohemian glass regained popularity shortly after Napoleon’s fall, particularly due to the development of new coloring techniques. Between 1830 and 1844, Franz Xaver Riedel (1786–1844), a fifth-generation glassmaker from the Riedel family, developed a type of glass known as uranium glass, or “Uranium glass,” which he also called “Annagrün” in honor of his daughter. This glass contains a small amount of uranium, which gives it a fluorescent green hue. The proportion of uranium in such objects generally ranges from 0.1 to 2% of the object’s total weight. Inspired by this invention, Friedrich Egermann (1777–1864) combined it with the cementation technique he had himself developed. This process involves layering the glass with metallic oxides that alter its surface color. Egermann first discovered silver cementation (1816), which gives a yellow tint to the piece, and later, in 1832, developed copper cementation, which produces a translucent red. This glass, which Egermann called “lithyalin,” brought him wealth and renown, as it rivaled objects made of semi-precious stones. The Czech glassmaker remained the only one capable of producing lithyalin until 1840, when his workshop was burgled and his formulas were stolen and sold, even reaching France. Similar productions quickly emerged at the Saint-Louis glassworks and later at Baccarat around 1860. This vase is a precise testament to the combination of Riedel’s uranium glass and Egermann’s cementation. The color hidden within this creation is what gives it its enigmatic allure. To reveal its spectacular effect, the piece must be placed under ultraviolet light.