Ref.03169
Three stands coming from an exceptional furniture set realized by Moses Michelangelo Guggenheim for the Palazzo Papadopoli in Venice, Italy

These three identical stands are made from the same solid body, tapered towards the bottom, which rests on a square base. Their main surface is a primarily sculpted panel. Foliage, weaving and floral trophies are sculpted in low relief on a textured background. In the middle is an egg-shaped element with decorative edges which shows a mask set against a motif of wrapped leather. This head is issued from the collection of grotesque motifs from the Renaissance and from the 16th century. The sides of the stands are decorated with a molding enlivened with floral motifs. In the ancient photographs that we show you above, we see perfectly well the described stools, in the Salone delle Quattro Porte du Palazzo Papadopoli. From one side of the room, they are situated on each side of the ceremonial china cabinet. They are therefore the support of large sculpted busts. From the other side of the room, they support vases with handles and are placed around the fireplace. The presentation of these photographs is completely unedited and exceptional. 

Ref.10721
Alphonse GIROUX et cie and Julien-Nicolas RIVART (1802-1867) - Gorgeous writing desk with espagnolettes and decoration of roses in porcelain inlays

A rare example of Rivart 's collaboration with the prestigious Alphonse Giroux et Cie manufactory, this piece of furniture stands out for its sophistication. The hues of brown obtained by various woods give this precious work a great luminosity. The feet are adorned with gilt bronze espagnolettes of very fine manufacture, and the shelf on top of it is framed by an openwork balcony. Founded by François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux in 1799, this shop turned to cabinetmaking as early as 1834 under the name "Alphonse Giroux". He begins under the Restoration to receive commissions of gifts from Kings Louis-Philippe and Charles X to the "Children of France". The sons Alphonse-Gustave and André Giroux took over the business in 1838, which then became "Alphonse Giroux et Cie" until its absorption by Duvinage in 1867. At the World's Fair of 1855 , the Empress Eugénie bought them a "bonheur du jour" desk. In collaboration with Susse Frères, they are the exclusive manufacturers of the first daguerreotype cameras as soon as 1839. Alphonse Giroux and Cie was famous thus under the Restoration and then the Second Empire , at which time they supplied the members of the Imperial court, especially in the trade of writing furniture, as this desk bears witness. Desiring to remain at the forefront of decorative techniques, Giroux collaborated here with Julien-Nicolas Rivart who had patented his porcelain marquetry process in 1849. This piece of furniture demonstrates once more the importance of these porcelain decorations, prized by the most prominent cabinetmakers. This writing desk is all the more interesting for it is the first time that a collaboration between Rivart and Giroux is attested. The dominant brown and gold tone is only broken by the flowers of fresh colors provided by Julien-Nicolas Rivart . This beautiful decoration depicts here a bouquet of roses and buttercups on the chest, and a beautiful frieze of morning glories on the shelf. Opening with a key, the chest of this writing desk offers a large shelf and three drawers with handles in gilt bronze, decorated with wooden marquetry patterns. The writing shelf, of curved forms, is lined with a caramel-colored leather blotter.

Ref.10647
Albert DAMMOUSE and MANUFACTURE DE SEVRES - Important antique exhibition vase, "vase potiche allongée" model, with ibis on its golden wooden pedestal

This important antique vase with an ibis on its golden wooden pedestal was made by the renowned French ceramist Albert Dammouse in 1873. There is the Manufacture de Sèvres’s seal. This vase is both emblematic of the period’s decorative arts and of Albert Dammouse’s works who was known for his dexterity in the material treatment as well as his qualities as decorator. Albert Dammouse, whose father was sculptor at the Manufacture de Sèvres, joins the École nationale des Arts décoratifs in 1863 before study from 1868 Milès Solon’s lessons, also decorator at the Manufacture de Sèvres, at the School of Fine Arts. In 1871, he moved to his own workshop in the city of Sèvres, next to the Manufacture, until his death in 1926. Albert Dammouse is interested in all the ceramics, but his porcelains have made first his reputation. In 1874, at the Union centrale des Arts Décoratifs, he exhibits porcelains and gets the gold medal. He won then a gold medal at the third Paris World’s Fair in 1878 and built ovens and workshops in Sèvres in order to produce more works. Although Dammouse has his own workshop some of his works, such as our vase, are the result of collaboration between Dammouse and the Manufacture de Sèvres. This is the model "elongated ovoid porcelaine vase" invented by Jules Peyre and used by many artists with sometimes some variations such as this Chinese Vase No. 1 entitled "Pécher", made around 1860 and decorated by Marc Emmanuel Louis Solon. Renowned throughout Europe, the Sèvres factory, where this vase was decorated, remains at the end of the century renowed for its technical and artistic savoir-faire even if industrialisation was growing.Notably, thanks to the discovery, in 1768, of the first kaolin field in France by Pierre-Joseph Macquer and Robert Millot, two researchers at the Manufacture de Sèvres, hard-paste porcelain (made up of nearly 75% of kaolin), whose manufacturing secret was kept by Saxony, is finally developed in France. With this discovery, the Manufacture de Sèvres is developing, particularly from the beginning of the 19th century. The productions are characterized by their modernity and the diversity of styles. While the pedestal is representative of the 19th century richness of ornamentation and eclectic revival of historic styles, the vase is characterized by a certain lightness and purity, aesthetic appeared with Japonism. Nature is one of the favorite themes of Japanese art, and the vase is decorated with an ibis and a shrub around wich birds are flying. Indeed, Japonism, which inspires Europeans arts in the second half of the century, is one of the principal inspiration in Dammouse’s works. With the various exchanges that took place between France and Japan from 1858, the year of the signing of a commercial treaty, and the contribution of the World's Fairs, true international encounters, the West discovers the Japanese art that provides to the artists some new patterns and a new and refine aesthetic. In 1873, year of the creation of this vase, takes place the first Japanese exhibition in Paris. The art dealer Siegfried Bing opens the store "Art Nouveau", rue de Provence, around 1872 and where Dammouse will be exposed. Later, Albert Dammouse, who was inspired especially by flora, will be one of the first, concerning ceramic, to create Art Nouveau style works of art . This vase, with its decorative and sophisticated look, belongs to the trends of its time. In the same vein, Ferdinand Mérigot is at the origin of the Japanese decoration that adorns this pair of vases made in 1868 and whose model is also Chinese Vase No. 1, variant of our form. The pedestal in golden wood, inspired by Napoléon III style, is ornated with rococo bows and acanthus leaves. This very elaborate pedestal was specially created to highlight the porcelain. The vase does not have a bottom: the bottom is pierced, and thanks to a system it is possible to fit the vase to the base. Thus deprived of any practical function but destined primarily to the decor, it seems certain that this vase participated in an exhibition. Although Dammouse was one of the artistes of the great trends of his time, Roger Marx, in his Paris World's Fair’s report in 1900, wrote with relevance : « no material that he treated with a sovereign skill, no trend that made him lose the notion of composed decor », qualities by which he was renowed. « Dammouse is a skilled ceramist, but is above all an artist », wrote the critic Georges Vogt in his Paris World's Fair’s report in 1900.

Ref.11292
Maison des Bmbous Alfred PERRET and Ernest VIBERT (attributed to) - Japanese flat desk with mother-of-pearl and ivory decoration

This desk, inspired by the Far East, was created in the 19th century. The parchment leaf-style tray and the five drawers are engraved and inlaid with floral motifs, birds, insects and butterflies in ivory and mother-of-pearl. The belt is decorated with openwork Chinese motifs. The pedestal with spacer is sculpted and finished with claw feet. This Japanese style desk is typical of its time and of the creations by Perret and Vibert. The decorative arts of the late 19th century testifies to a renewed attraction for Far Eastern creations and divert the codes of the Japanese art to apply them to perfectly Western furniture. The Maison des Bambous by Perret and Vibert is the place to be for lovers of Japanese objects at the end of the 19th century. Alfred Perret founded, in 1879 in Paris, a house specialized in the production of bamboo and luxury basketry furniture, as well as in the importation of authentically Japanese objects for a well-off clientele. The company specializes in the early 1880s in the manufacture of lacquered and carved wood Japanese style furniture. In 1886, it is taken by the son of Alfred Perret and Ernest Vibert and becomes "Perret and Vibert". It will take the name of "La Maison des Bambous" in the early 1890s.

Ref.12995
Charles-Guillaume DIEHL, Pair of Pedestals in wood and Bronze, circa 1870

This pair of black lacquered tripod stands with numerous finely chiseled bronze ornaments was crafted by cabinetmaker Charles Guillaume Diehl (1811-1885) during the 1870s. The stands consist of a small tabletop surrounded by a serrated decorative edge, resting on three curving legs. These legs, highlighted with numerous gilded bronze ornaments, including lion paws at their lower ends, are connected by a stretcher. Three gilded bronze beasts support the tabletop, each standing on a wooden block adorned with bronze decorations on the sides and inside – including rosettes – that hold a turned wooden spindle finished with a bronze tip. The stretcher features additional bronze ornaments, including three spindles each holding a ring and lion mascarons between them. At the center of the stretcher, the cabinetmaker added a wooden pyramid also adorned with bronze. The base connecting the three legs includes gilded bronze ornaments at each end, as well as a central pinecone finial. Trained in marquetry, cabinetmaker Charles Guillaume Diehl (1811-1885) specialized in creating small pieces of furniture made of rare woods and adorned with refined and exceptionally luxurious bronze decorations. In the 1860s, Diehl began to design furniture in a more personal style, employing an ornamental vocabulary inspired by ancient Greek and Egyptian art, presenting a decorative grammar bordering on the fantastic, as seen here with the hybrid sphinxes. He participated in several World’s Fairs, including those of 1867, 1873 – where he won a progress medal – and Paris in 1878, where he was excluded from competition due to his prior successes. Diehl’s style evolved over time. Initially focused on furniture inspired by the 18th century, veneered with precious woods or in the Boulle marquetry style, his work underwent a transformation in the 1860s. From this period onward, Charles Diehl created furniture in a more distinctive style, blending neo-Greek and neo-Medieval ornamental vocabularies into a decorative grammar that pushed the boundaries of the fantastical. For the 1867 World’s Fair, he collaborated with renowned artists known for their imagination, such as sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet (1824-1910) and designer and ornamentist Jean Brandely (active between 1867 and 1873). During this event, he earned a silver medal for a series of caskets, including a Neo-Renaissance ebony casket adorned with bronzes and oxidized silver bas-reliefs featuring salamanders, as well as another in blue marble with gilded bronzes, purchased by Napoleon III for his cousin, Princess Mathilde. He also won a bronze medal, which he refused, for three pieces of furniture: a large table, an Etruscan-style bookcase, and the coin cabinet now housed at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Due to stylistic similarities with certain works by Emmanuel Frémiet, it appears that the meeting between the two artists – which later led to collaborations – played a key role in the stylistic evolution of Charles Diehl. This marked the beginning of a distinctive artistic output, highly recognizable within Parisian cabinetmaking of the second half of the 19th century.

Ref.11377
Very beautiful Japanese bedroom furniture in sycamore

These japanese bedroom furniture were made in the late 19th century of tainted sycamore in the taste of Gabriel Viardot or the production of the Maison des Bambous and includes 3 pieces : - A bed (H : 267,5 cm ; L : 157 cm; P : 208,5 cm) - A bedside table (H : 80,5 cm ; L : 60 cm ; P : 37,5 cm) - A wardrobe (H : 235 cm ; L :148 cm ; P : 53 cm). The bed is adorned with a very high headboard with Japanese open work friezes to which was hang a beautiful and colored tapestry in the same taste, adorned with an ibis in plants very characteristif of the Far-East. It also depicts an engraved and in relief decoration of asian motifs, bamboos and dragons, lightened up with inlaid element of mother-of-pearl. The bedside table is composed of an engraved slab with rolled edges, it opens with a small drawer with its key and a small cupboard having also its keys. The door is also adorned with inlaid mother-of-pearl. The asymmetrical wardrobe, as it is very often the case in the production of Japanese furniture, opens by a large mirror door, a drawer and a small cupbord. Its decoration in relief is lightened up with a mother-of-pearl inlaid scene depicting characters sat under a temple. One of the furniture mounts takes the shape of an ibis on a turtle shell.