Ref.18720
Matthew (1815-1889) and Willem (1816-1881) HORRIX (attrib. to) Important dining room set in "Black Forest" style

This dining room set set was made in the second half of the 19th century. It is very likely that it was designed by the Horrix workshops, of the brothers Matthew and Willem HORRIX. Here the rustic style, also called in the 19th « Black Forest », expressed itself at its fully. All the various elements that are composing this dining room set were made of beech wood richly carved imitating nature, with a nice brown patina. Thus, those furniture seems to be made of twigs, roots, vines, flowers and fruits. Amusing details sprang out of the carving, such as snails, grasshoppers, beetles.… and different elements are in the form of plants, for instance the buffets' handles are mushrooms' shaped. The Dining Room set is composed of: - 2 SIDEBOARDS opening with two doors and two drawers. Topped with mercury mirrors (oxidized). Dim.: H. 78''3/4 x L. 53''9/16 x D. 24''3/16 cm. - 1 SERVER, trapezoidal, with Blue Turquin marble topped by a miror and a narrow shelf. It opens with two drawers and the jambs holding two shelves. Dim.: H. 59''5/8 x L. 53''1/8 x D. 20''1/2 cm. - 5 CURTAIN RODS, branch shaped and decorated with vine leaves, topped with a basket of grapes. Dim.: H. 13'' x L. 69''5/16 – 77''3/16 x D. 3''15/16 cm. - 1 round TABLE with a central quad (slightly piqued), that can be opend (extensions missing). Dim.: H.. 30''1/2 x L. 50'' x D. 52''3/8 cm. - 6 CHAIRS, all unique, each receiving a different carved decoration, with brown leather-upholstered. Dim.: H. 36''1/4 x L. 18''7/8 x D. 21''11/16 cm.

Ref.12655
Ettore XIMENES (1855-1926) (attr. to), « Boy with a beret », Carrara marble bust, Second half of the 19th century

This Carrara marble bust was made in the second half of the 19th century, it depicts a boy with young features, his head turned slightly to the left. He is dressed with a sailor collar jacket and a large beret. This sculpture can be compared with another bust depicting a similar subject and made by the Italian sculptor Ettore Ximenes (1855 – 1926). It's the representation of a boy, obvisouly a little bit older than ours, frowning and smoking a cigarette. He is dressed with a fabric around his shoulders and a beret put on his head in the same way than in our bust. Ettore Ximenes is an Italian sculptor, painter and illustrator, born in 1855 in Palermo and dead in Roma in 1926. He starts his artistic career by taking class at the Art Academy of Palermo, then from 1872 he enters the Royal Academy of Napoli where he spends time with the painter Domenico Morelli (1826 – 1901) and the sculptors Stanislao Lista (1924 - 1908) and Vincenzo Gemito (1852 – 1929). Finally, he wins in 1874, a scholarship to study for four years in Firenze. The works of art he makes at his beginning are very realistic like in the two busts presented here. Later, he starts adding symbolic elements et Neo-Renaissance ones answering the artistic trend of the end of the century. All along his career, he participates to many European exhibitions such as the International Exhibition of Vienna in 1873 or the one in Paris in 1878 where he meets the French sculptors Auguste Rodin (1840 – 1917) and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827 - 1875). He participates also to the Napoli exhibition in 1877 where he exhibits a full-size sculpture untitled “Balance” which depicts a gymnast woman walking on a sphere, of which many small bronzes were made after. From the 80's, he makes many monumental projects in Italy and decides to dedicate himself to it from 1911 to enliven the public spaces of the world by sculpting for some cities like New York, Sao Paulo, Kiev or Buenos Aires.

Ref.5524
Napoleon III style mantel with modillions carved in Enjugerais marble