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"Venus Asks Vulcan to Cast Arms for Her Son Aeneas" - Louis XVI period overmantel in carved wood

Rare Louis XVI style and period overmantel in carved wood, with a modern gilding. The upper part is decorated with a garland of flowers. Both sides are sculpted in form of pilasters, with roses, ribbons, quiver, sword, spear, helmet and griffin. A perl friez fram an oil on canvas figuring "Venus Asks Vulcan to Cast Arms for Her Son Aeneas" and an original mercury mirror.

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The monumental mirror coming from an exceptional furniture set realized by Moses Michelangelo Guggenheim for the Palazzo Papadopoli in Venice, Italy

This gigantic mirror uses the same decorative collection as the side table and large dresser. The carved wood frame has the same motifs. The uprights are decorated with bearded sheathed men, whose long sleeves are decorated with acanthus leaves. One finds this same pattern on the uprights of the window. The representation of the body with generous muscles demonstrates the skill of the sculptor. The upper part contains the identical entablature of the credenza with a frieze of festoons topped with shells alternating with masks of fantastic creatures. As on the credenza, a projecting cornice rests on carved corbels. Here again we see how an overall design directed the production of this furniture, where each piece contains a decorative element of another while enriching it.

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Antique 18th-century fireback with the coat of arms of the Fontaine de Biré family

Rare antique fireback made during the 18th century and bearing the coat of arms of the Fontaine de Bire family : Azure to chevron with two clovers and a sheaf the whole of gold. The Fontaine de Bire family is originating from Anjou, France. One of his most famous representatives, Marie-Sébastien-Charles-François Fontaine de Biré, asked for his bust in marble by Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785, which can quite correspond to the date of realization of our fireback. This bust is now preserved at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, USA.

Ref.3457
Antique Neo-Renaissance fireplace in oak with a portrait of woman

This antique Neo-Renaissance fireplace in oak wood was made during the 19th century. On the monumental upper part is a portrait of a woman with a blue cloth and holding a small bouquet of flowers. A cariatide and an atlante draped and bare-chested are carved on the jambs. They support a frieze richly decorated with foliage and flowers characteristic of the Neo-Renaissance aesthetic.

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Beautiful antique paire of Onyx lamps with cloisonné enamels and gilded bronze with Sphinx decor

This beautiful pair of Napoleon III style lamps was made around 1870. The central part, made of onyx , is shaped like an antique amphora. It is adorned with a very colorful frieze of cloisonné enamels and two handles topped with gilt-bronze busts of female sphinxes (see our article about sphinx ). The foot, also made of gilt bronze, is sculpted with spirals. It is placed on a rather simple, round base made of gilt bronze, onyx , and cloisonné enamels. This piece epitomizes the Antique artistic current of the 19th century and the Second Empire. Napoleon's 1798 campaign to Egypt initiated “ Egyptomania ” and, more generally, Orientalism. Ancient Greek and Egyptian shapes, colors, designs, and iconography became very popular in the Western world. “Neoclassicism” was popular in painting since Jacques-Louis David, as well as in architecture, and in decorative arts. This pair of lamps features decorative female sphinxes, who resemble the typical Greek sphinx. They have wings and are wearing a helmet and armor. The lamps' shape is like that of an Egyptian or Greek amphora. Moreover, onyx is a stone that was often used in Ancient times for cameos and as an ornament for decorative objects. This object is quite characteristic of the Napoleon III style in particular by the cloisonné enamels decor that bring a rich polychrome, technique rediscovered in France circa 1860 and extensively used in decorative arts, especially by the genius that was Ferdinand Barbedienne , bronze manufacturer. The combination of onyx and bronze was brilliantly used first by the Compagnie des Marbres et Onyx d'Algérie by Eugene Cornu.

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VEROT, Cabinetmaker - Neo-Renaissance style dining room set made out of carved walnut

Walnut, Green Estours Marble. This dining room set is made up of a desert table, a dining table and six chairs. Bearing the mark of the cabinetmaker Verot, active in Paris from 1875, this Neo-Renaissance dining room set was carved out of walnut around 1880. The credence dessert table is supported by two fluted jambs, that end with the busts of young women carved in full relief. The top of the desert table is made out of Green Estours marble, beautiful green veins on a cream background. The theme of grotesque features and fanciful animals is found all over the furniture of this dining room set, especially the salamander, emblem of François the first, decorating the lower part of the dining table.

Ref.10940
BAYEUX MANUFACTURE - Four vases with polychrome and gold decoration with Chinese

These Bayeux porcelain vases feature rich decorations treated in polychrome and gold with Chinese characters, flowers and birds in medallions. The golden handles are made of bamboo branches.

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Alexandre Descatoire (1874-1949) - "Pierrot and Colombine" marble sculpture

"Pierrot and Colombine" marble sculpture signed Alexandre Descatoire. Alexandre Descatoire is a French sculptor born in Douai on August 22, 1874 and died in Marquette-lez-Lille on March 17, 1949. Professor at the School of Fine Arts and member of the Academy of Fine Arts (elected in 1939), he notably realized "Youth", allegory of times and ages, one of the gilded statues ordered for the Universal Exhibition of 1937, installed on the edges of the Parvis des Libertés et des Droits de l'Homme, in front of the Eiffel Tower. Knight of the Legion of Honor (1925), a large part of his work is dedicated to the soldiers of the First World War.

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Guglielmo PUGI (1850 - 1915), White Carrara marble bust From the sculpture of Jean-Baptiste CARPEAUX « Dance », Circa 1900

Our Carrara marble bust is signed by the Italian sculptor Guglielmo Pugi (1850 – 1915) who has made it around 1900. It uses the model of the sculpted group realized between 1863 and 1869 by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827 - 1875), untitled « Dance », for the opera Garnier in Paris. The order of this group is due to Charles Garnier (1825 – 1898), architect of the opera in Paris that now bears his name. In 1863, he asks four artists who have won the Prix de Rome, to realize sculpted groups that will decorate the facade of the opera according to the following themes: Dance, Poetry, Music and Lyrical drama. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was in charge of creating the Dance one. At the end of three years during which he made draws and models to give the best move impression, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux sculpted this group, the original one is kept in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and a copy is now on the opera's facade. This farandole of naked women that surrounds the incarnation of the Dance's spirit shocked the public opinion. Indeed, they judge the group as improper because of the realism of the feminine nudes. It's only the war of 1870 and the death of the sculptor, five years after, that stops the polemic. For the creation of our bust put on a Paonazzo marble pedestal, Guglielmo Pugi chose to be inspired by the face of the Dance's spirit that he reproduces in an identical way. Indeed, the smiling face is slightly bend toward the bottom, and the glance is turned to the left, the disheveled hair seem to be blown by the wind and the position of the shoulders indicates a move toward the sky. The only difference from the model of the French sculptor is that Pugi chose to dress the Dance's spirit with a fabric that covers his chest. Guglielmo Pugi owned a workshop in Firenze where he sculpted with his two sons Gino and Fiorenzo. His sculptures, directly chiseled in the alabaster or the Carrara marble, were above all made for the United States. Many of them were presented during the American Exhibition of Buffalo in 1901 and the International Exhibition of Saint-Louis in 1904. We owe him many Art Nouveau sculptures but also portraits kept in the historical Museum of Alabaster in Volterra, Italy, or even the bust of the king Humbert Ist on the place in Fiesole. When he died, his two sons kept going the workshop by changing the name «Guglielmo i figli » (and sons) to « Fratelli G. e F. Pugi » (Brothers G. and F. Pugi) as the signature for « Flli Pugi ».

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Gabriel Viardot (attributed to) - Japanese style presentation cabinet with a laquer and mother-of-pearl decor

This presentation furniture made of tainted sycamore made in the 19th century was certainely a work by the Japanese style furniture maker Gabriel Viardot (1830-1904). Gabriel Viardot became famous from the 1870 with his production of furniture inspired by the Asiatic ones, of which he makes his specialty. He takes his inspiration from the 1867 Worlds's Fair where Japan participates for the first time. His very characteristic furniture production was sometimes inlaid with Tonkin mother-of-pearl, but always made with tinted sycamore wood. Thus, our furniture is divided into two parts. The superior part forms a display opening by a glass door and giving access to the asymmetrical shelves. It is surmounted by a polished varnished bronze dragon that we find very often on the furniture maker's production. The lower part also shows shelves of which the mount is adorned with coiled polished varnished dragon and a lacquered door adorned with birds in a roses and hydrangeas mother-of-pearls decoration.

Ref.14666
Paul SOYER, Renaissance-Style Clock Set, circa 1875

This clock set in the spirit of the Renaissance was executed by Paul Soyer around 1875. Paul Soyer (1832-1903) worked as a chaser in Paris from the 1850s. Gradually, he learned the technique of enamel to replace ornamental bronzes in furniture decoration. He opened a workshop as an engraver-enameller in 1861 and then collaborated with renowned enamelers and goldsmiths, such as Claudius Popelin, Charles Duron, and Gustave Baugrand. It was as a collaborator of the latter that he won his first bronze medal at the 1867 Universal Exposition. Following this success, he opened a larger workshop and specialized in various enamel techniques, with a preference for painted enamel. He participated in all the French and foreign Universal Expositions, as well as the Expositions of the Union Centrale des Beaux Arts appliqués à l'Industrie. Regularly rewarded, notably with a gold medal in 1878, he was hors concours and a jury member from 1889, the year he received the Legion of Honor. His production, very varied, includes both small decorations for jewelry and true enamel paintings, as well as enameled art objects for goldsmithing and plaques intended for cabinetry. A follower of Popelin, he remained faithful to the art of the Renaissance and the early 17th century, particularly fond of the technique of polychrome enamels associated with grisaille, and that of gold camaieu.

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Large Louis XVI style mantel in yellow Sienna marble with entablature adorned with the head of Apollo and arrow heads on the jambs

This large Louis XVI style mantelpiece was carved in Sienna yellow marble in the 19th century. The lintel is adorned with a rich and delicate low relief sculpture: in the centre, a head of Apollo with plaited hair is framed by an oval motif of reeds and acanthus scrolls. Further on, a tree branch laden with leaves and fruit intertwines with a bow. The whole is framed by a frieze of pearls, beneath which run fasces. At the base of the jambs, a floral motif is set in a small cartouche surrounded by pearls. The protruding jambs are adorned with arrow heads, a geometrical frieze, a fluted engaged sheathed column ending in a water leaf pattern and rounded fasces above the base of the mantelpiece.

Ref.15380
TIFFANY Studios, Mosque Lamp in "favrile" glass, early 20th century

This mosque lamp was created by the Tiffany Studios at the beginning of the 20th century. Its design was conceived by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1905. Louis Comfort Tiffany was the son of Charles Tiffany, the founder of Tiffany and Co., a renowned New York jewelry and silverware company. Initially a painter and interior decorator, he later became interested in the art of glass. In 1893, he founded his first glass factory under his name. He notably invented “favrile glass”, a term derived from the English “fabrile” (“belonging to an artist or their art”) to mimic the iridescent effect of antique glass, achieving a lustrous and shimmering appearance by adding metallic salts to the molten glass. The base, body, and cover of the lamp are three distinct, separable parts of the piece. The octagonal ebony base holds the lamp's foot of the same shape, topped by a spherical cap, with a matching cover above it. While the base glass is matte, the upper part is decorated with lustrous green and mauve petal-shaped motifs. When lit, the lamp emits a warm glow. This creation falls within the Art Nouveau movement, in which Tiffany excelled, particularly at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Its shape resembles a mushroom, and the plant motifs in its decoration reflect the object’s natural inspiration. It also reveals Tiffany’s fascination with all kinds of lighting, from the antique oil lamps of Pompeii to the Near Eastern inspiration of this mosque lamp from the artist’s travels. Several other lamps were made following this model. One of them, similar to ours, is listed in the book Louis C. Tiffany. The Garden Museum Collection by Alastair Duncan (p. 317), as being present in this museum’s collection.

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Napoleon III style mantel decorated with garlands of flowers carved in wood

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Entrance Door in Oak and Cast Iron, France, 19th Century

French entrance door from the 19th century, made of solid oak and adorned in its upper section with a finely cast iron grille. The ironwork, visible on both sides, features a symmetrical composition of leafy scrolls, palmettes, and floral rosettes. The glazed section is protected by an interior hinged panel that can be opened independently. The lower moulded wood panel retains a beautiful aged patina with wear marks attesting to its authenticity. The original cast iron handle is still present. This door combines strength, elegance, and the decorative craftsmanship typical of 19th-century French architecture.