Ref.10638
Georges Alphonse MONBRO (attributed to), Pair of low bookcases with bronze espagnolettes

This pair of cabinets with rosewood and amaranth veneer was made during the 19th century. Attributed to Georges Alphonse Bonifacio Monbro, these two pieces of furniture are characteristic of his work because of the delicacy and the profusion of the gilt and finely chiseled bronze decoration. The abundance of Monbro's production and his predilection for eclectic furniture enhanced the belief that Monbro made this cabinets. Monbro, whose father was an antique dealer and a cabinetmaker, was born in 1807 in Paris, where he died in 1884. He took over the family business from 1838 with the name "Monbro aîné" and whose the shop was situated at 18, Rue Basse-du-Rempart. During Haussmann’s renovation of Paris, he had to move and set up in Rue du Helder, in the hôtel Dudon, which will also be demolished. Monbro sold curiosities, furnitures, bronzes, porcelains, tapestries, sculptures and was also cabinetmaker. He acquired a great renown and opened a branch in London around 1850. While his shop was compared by his contemporaries to a real antiquities museum, the furniture he created were famous thanks to their historicism and their eclecticism, in vogue, as this pair of cabinets. The rosewood and amaranth veneer is very fine. The amaranth frames the rosewood parcels whose the streaks add ornamentation and relief, even a certain geometric aesthetic. Richly adorned with carved and gilt bronze, this cabinets each support a Carrara marble top subtly veined. On both sides, bronze and high relief espagnolettes adorn the corners. These espagnolettes, decorated with detailed leaves and draperies, are taken from the Regence style and are become, during Napoleon III, a recurring pattern in the decorative arts. Leaves and bunches of grapes surround the bronze borders as a vine stock. The furniture legs are inspired both by Louis XV and Louis XVI styles : they are ornated with square rosettes which are overhung by rococo curves and shells. A half-lion and half-human face is at the centre and is wrapped with foliage. The bronze is very fine and elaborated, especially on the edgings with rococo decorations which structure each piece of wood or on the edgings finely decorated with oak leaves which frame the two windows. Both restorer and cabinetmaker renowned for his skill as connoisseur about bronzes and antique furnitures, Monbro specialized in historical styles and in antique furnitures reproduction, at a time when copies were most appreciated than originals. Constance Aubert tells in the review L'Opéra in 1842 his journeys through France, Switzerland and Italy for visiting all the castles to find antique furnitures in order to resell or to copy it for his creations. However, if Monbro was a real historic styles expert – Marc Fournier, a critic, writes in the review La Grande ville, that he was "the only curiosities merchant with [...] a great reputation and genuinely versed in the science of archeology" - he did not imitate originals, but he reinterpreted historic styles, according to the trend of the period, and this pair of cabinets is a perfect example : Louis XV, Louis XVI and Napoleon III styles are mixed.Georges Alphonse Bonifacio Monbro is especially known for his ebony and gilt bronze furnitures decorated with enamel such as the one currently exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay. Two caryatids also adorn the angles and the figure in the center is reminiscent of those at the bottom of our cabinets. This furniture with many inspirations - rigor and egyptomania are taken from the Napoleon I style, shells and curves from the Louis XV style, square rosettes from the Louis XVI style - is also characteristic of the furniture of the time.Antiques merchant, with whom "all the precious remains of past ages are," Monbro made bronze furnitures with eclectic decor his specialty, symptomatic of the aestethic of the second half of the 19th century and his taste for curiosities.

Ref.12792
Gabriel VIARDOT, Shelving unit with dragon decoration and mother of pearl marquetry, circa 1880-1890

This Japanese shelving unit was made of tainted sycamore by the French furniture maker Gabriel Viardot (1830-1906) in the last decades of the 19th century as indicates the signature "G. VIARDOT" on one of the feet. It's during the 1867 World Fairn where he discovered the Japanese Art, the Gabriel Viardot decided to devote himself to “Chinese-Japanese style furniture”. It’s with this production that he was awarded a silver medal at the World's Fair of 1878. His furniture was produced thanks to lacquered and carved panels sent directly from China or Japan and decorated with mother of pearl inlays from Tonkin. He enlivened his furniture with bronze decorations, of which he made all the designs by hand. In 1885, he participated in the World Exhibition of Antwerp where he obtained a gold medal. At this time, the shop employed 90 – 100 workers, sculptors or cabinetmakers, a lot of who were educated directly by Gabriel Viardot. Following this exhibition, Gabriel Viardot was promoted to the rank of Knight in the Legion of Honor (December 29 1885). In 1889, he was at the World Exhibition that took place in Paris and awarded a gold medal. He obtained the same award at the World's Fair of 1900. The furniture maker creates here an asymetrical shelving unit of which the shape and decoration are inspired by the Far-East esthetic. The top of the furniture reminds indeed of the pagoda roof, while we find here and there the dragon motif in polished varnished bronze and the geometric scrolls decoration. On each of the three doors, Gabriel Viardot chose to inlay a decor made of Tonkin mother of pearls. We can especially see on the superior door, an exceptional reproduction of a typical village, or a branch of cherry tree with flowers on one of the lower door. The detail precision goes to the sides of the furniture which present an elegant chiseled decoration depicting bamboo leaves.