Ref.2495
Beautiful antique Empire style fireplace in Sea Green marble with bronze ornaments

This beautiful antique Empire style fireplace was made out of Vert de Mer marble towards the end of the 19th century. Two detached colums make up the jambs of this antique fireplace. The entablature is decorated with the following gilded bronze ornaments: women's heads set in medallions, foliage, and rosettes.

Ref.15523
Pair of Japenese Vases by Alphonse Giroux and Charles Ficquenet

Signed “ALPH. GIROUX PARIS”, this pair of square base vases features a décor of flowers on a white background. These natural flowers, are made up of soft, pastel colours, the petals of each flower create a delicate gradation of pink, yellow, blue and white. The vase is outlined in bronze, and frames two parts of the vase. It frames the base, with feet featuring dragons' heads, and it frames the top of the vase. From Japanese inspiration, these vases come from the Japanese vogue, which became known in France during the 1860s-1870s, thanks to Japan opening foreign markets under the Meiji era. This vogue style is wonderfully illustrated by the famous “Service Rousseau” the name for the Parisian seller Eugène Rousseau, named so by the painter and engraver Félix Bracquemond. The Alphonse Giroux house was a famous marquetry and cabinet making store, situated at 7, rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré, in Paris, which expanded from 1799 to the end of the Second Empire. This house was created by François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux, and his two sons Alphonse-Gustave et André took over the business on the 19th May 1838. In his shop, Alphonse Giroux sold objects of curiosity, marquetry, stationary, but also pictures, paintings, and engravings, like an 18th century Marchand-mercier. Louis XVIII and Charles X chose gifts for the young princes in Alphonse-Giroux's shop. It was his son, in particular, who gave a real boost to the family business and made it enter the top ranking of luxury shops. The house was highly influenced by Japonism during the 1860s and 1870s, as can be seen by this pair of vases. In 1885, the Giroux house definitively closed its doors.

Ref.11030
Christophe FRATIN (1801-1864) rare Asian elephant clock, in gilded and patinated bronze

France, circa 1870 Gilded and patinated bronze, modern marble base. Signed « Fratin » on the bronze base This beautiful elephant clock was made in the 19th century by the Animalier sculptor Christophe Fratin. From the reign of Louis XV, clocks representing animals have a great success. With the development of the taste for Orient, exotic animals fascinate and become privileged subjects for sculptors. From the 18th century, the elephant clock is a particularly popular model. Symbol of nobility, wisdom and power, this animal, discovered by the Europeans during the conquests of Alexander the Great, is often represented by Westerners carrying some monumental element on its back. This image undoubtedly comes from the Eastern tradition of howdahs, Indian name of the pavilions installed on the back of the elephants to shelter travelers. On our clock, the pachyderm supports a heavy drum adorned with exotic flowers enclosing the clockwork. A Chinese character leads the elephant, one hand resting on the animal's head, the other holding a stick. Another character, feminine, is sitting cross-legged at the back of the drum, leaning against it. The dial supported by thick fabrics as well as the rod that surmount it bring verticality to the composition, evoking the monumentality of these animals that the Western imagination has often been pleased to represent. Among the many representations of this type, it is worth mentioning the Napoleonic project of the Elephant of the Bastille, a Parisian fountain that was never realized, but of which a plaster model at scale 1, built in 1814 near the site then destroyed in 1846, was notably quoted by Victor Hugo in a scene of Les Misérables staging the young Gavroche. This monumental fountain, whose creation had been entrusted to the architect Alavoine, was to be surmounted by the colossal statue of an elephant with a tower-shaped howdah. All the Animalier sculptor talent of Fratin is perceptible in the representation of this elephant whose rendering of the epidermis is precise and realistic. The folds of the trunk and ears, the joints of its imposing legs and the look of the animal are particularly convincing. The fabrics which cover it are the occasion, for the artist, to demonstrate all his dexterity and his mastery; the care given to the treatment of the base is also to be pointed out. After the revolution of 1848, the slowdown of the art market forced Fratin to turn to auctions to sell his works, mostly with cast rights, an extremely rare process for 19th-century sculptors. In the catalog of one of these sales (April 1850), there is a mention of an "Elephant, palanquin ride", which allows us to date the realization of our model before 1850.

Ref.3927
Antique Napoleon III fireplace with a woman's profile decoration in a medallion

Antique Napoleon III style fireplace, made in the 19th century in a semi statuary marble. The entablature is adorned in its centre with a woman's profile in a pearl medallion

Ref.12270
Pair of lacquered sliding double doors with mother-of-pearl decor

Pair of 1970s double sliding doors, purple lacquered and decorated with mother-of-pearl inlays

Ref.12241
Louis XV oak paneled room with its fireplace and a canvas by Paul Tavernier

This paneled room made at the end of the 20th century with moulded and sculpted oak, is presented with its stone fireplace and its original cast iron interior and a large oil on canvas depicting a hunt with hounds scene in the Fontainebleau Castle's park, painted by Paul Tavernier (1852 – 1943) in 1925. In our ensemble, the oil on canvas by Paul Tavernier is presented in an alcove decorated on its middle by a shell and scrolls sculpted in the wood. The canvas is surrounded by two bookcases. The oak panels are slightly decorated with wood moulding and sculptures depicting flowers and scrolls. There is on the next wall, a Louis XV stone fireplace with its original cast iron interior. It's decorated on its middle with a shell surrounded by flowers on each side. On the top of the mirror an elegant wood decor is sculpted, it depicts again a shell on the middle and scrolls. On the other side of the room, facing it, an other but larger mirror is put on the center of the wall in which there are two doors on each side with mirrors on their upper parts. The oak panels are moulded and sculpted with the same decor. The room dimensions are H : 138.19 Inch, L : 341.73 Inch, D : 205.51 Inch. More dimensions available on request.

Ref.12909
Lot of 9.5 m² of antique hexagonal terracotta tiles, 19th century

Antique 19th century period floor composed of hexagonal terracotta tiles. About 450 tiles of which the six sides are 3" 3/4 for 7" 1/4 length and 13/16 thick. The whole surface area is about 9.5 m².

Ref.13321
Louis XVI style trumeau with friezes and flowers crowns

This Louis XVI style trumeau was made in the late 19th century in painted wood and stucco lightened up with gilding. The mounts depicts a paneled decor of friezes of gilt acanthus leaves and pearls, surmounted by a small crown of flowers. The pediment of our trumeau was supposed to receive a painting which was replaced by a night blue fabric. This frame is surmounted by a relief decoration depicting a knotted ribbon noticable by the precision given to the folds.

Ref.13836
Oak game counter

Large game counter made of oak wood, open on each side, topped by a tray made of two very thick boards from the same trunk.

Ref.15277
Odoardo TABACCHI, La Tuffolina or The Diver, after 1877

This sculpture representing a diving bather, titled La Tuffolina in Italian (from the verb “tuffare”, to dive), was created by the sculptor Odoardo Tabacchi after 1877. Odoardo Tabacchi (1831-1905) was a student at the Accademia di Brera, before working in sculptors’ studios in Milano, Rome, Firenze, and Napoli. He established his own practice in Milano between 1860 and 1868, before moving to Turino, where he became a professor at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in 1867. While he was primarily interested in monumental sculpture, his reputation was also built on his delicate and expressive female figures. The sculptor created a marble statue on this subject and presented it at the Esposizione Artistica di Napoli in 1877. It was acquired by the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, following its presentation. He sent it to Paris for the 1878 Paris Exposition, where it was exhibited in the Italian section of the Galerie des Beaux-Arts. Today, it is on display at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples. There are numerous reproductions of this work. Our silvered bronze statuette, signed on the side of the base (“O. Tabacchi Torino”), is one of them. The young woman is depicted as if at the water’s edge, about to dive. With her legs pressed together and straight, she bends forward at the waist, arms extended, just before making the final leap. She wears a knitted swimsuit covering her from the upper thighs to the upper arms, but her forms are visible through the fabric. Her face is highly expressive, her lips stretched into a smile that reveals her teeth. The Musée La Piscine in Roubaix holds a bronze version of this sculpture, appropriately placed at the water’s edge. Numerous bronze statuettes of various sizes, mostly with a brown patina, were also made, evidence of the enduring success of this work.

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.13558
Gabriel VIARDOT (attributed to), Large Japonesque Mirror in the shape of a moon crescent with a dragon, second half of the 19th century

This Japanese mirror was probably made by Gabriel Viardot in the late 19th century. A talented woodcarver, Gabriel Viardot opened a furniture factory and store in Paris in 1853. In the 1870s, he decided to devote himself to “Chinese-Japanese furniture”. He won prestigious awards at the 1878, 1889 and 1900 World’s Fairs in Paris, and a gold medal at the Antwerp International Exhibition in 1884. This mirror features deeply Japanese ornamentation. Taking the form of a crescent moon, it is set in a frame adorned with a frieze of cloudy scrolls and vegetal elements. A finely executed dragon seems to emerge from behind the frame, in the hollow part of the crescent moon; resting its clawed paws on the edge of the frame, its spine bristling with spikes, it points a menacing head towards the reflection. Its body seems to disappear behind the frame, only to reappear on the other side, its supple tail adorned with scales, flames and spikes. The dragon is a recurring motif in Gabriel Viardot’s furniture creations. In the lower part of the crescent moon, opposite the fantastic animal, a branch of Japanese pine wraps around the frame. Gabriel Viardot created several mirrors with identical shapes and similar decorations, such as the one in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, featuring two menacing dragons.

Ref.6057
Louis XVI style fireplace in Paonazzo marble, decorated with a pearl frieze

Ref.15726
CARRIER-BELLEUSE Albert-Ernest — Enameled Porcelain Covered Vase from Sèvres

Refined covered vase in enameled porcelain, produced by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres and mounted on a finely chiseled gilt bronze base. This model, known as "Saïgon", was developed under the artistic direction of Albert-Ernest CARRIER-BELLEUSE in the late 19th century, and reflects the influence of Asian aesthetics and cloisonné techniques that were highly fashionable at the time. The decoration features a profusion of stylized floral motifs, rendered in nuanced tones of blue, green, pink, and white, highlighted with gilded outlines. Butterflies and insects in raised polychrome enamel add a delicate sense of relief and intricacy to the ivory-toned surface. A gadrooned frieze in blue enamel and gold encircles the neck and base, enhancing the ornamental harmony of the piece. The underside bears several marks: a red stencil "DECORE A SEVRES" with monogram, green painted number "S.80", and various incised and painted inventory numbers. This piece exemplifies the technical virtuosity and decorative elegance of Sèvres' artistic production during the 1880s.