Ref.11163
Antique white garden bench with perforated decoration, 1930s

This old garden bench in painted metal was made in the 1930s. With important dimensions, this bench has a rounded seat, more comfortable.

Ref.16929
Antique Neo-Renaissance style dining room made out of carved walnut with grotesques and fantastics animals decor

This neo-Renaissance dining room includes: - A carved walnut dresser with grotesques. H: 181.5 cm; W: 162.5 cm; D: 65.5 cm (71.5 x 64 x 25.9 in) - A carved walnut table with grotesques and leafy designs. H: 76 cm; W: 170 cm; D: 90 cm (30 x 67 x 35.4 in) - 6 carved walnut chairs with padding, 5 with white and green stripes and 1 mint green, with two different figures topping each chair. H: 101.5 cm; W: 51.5 cm; D: 44.5 cm (40 x 20.3 x 17.5 in). This dining room corresponds to the Neo-Renaissance style . The 19th century is known as the century of “eclecticism” in decorative arts, during which artistic styles from past centuries were rediscovered and mixed together to create original objects, furnishings, and monuments. Certain styles are particularly historicist, like the “neo-Gothic” style, the “neoclassical” style, and the “neo-Renaissance” style. The Paris Hôtel de Ville (town hall) is a prime example of French neo-Renaissance architecture. Grotesques and mythical creatures are typical Renaissance motifs. The table and chairs have nicely carved, straight legs and an H-shaped leg structure, which was invented during the Renaissance. The many straight lines and angles are typical of the “classicist” Renaissance. The caryatids on the dresser topped with ionic capitals and the arcades underneath the table also refer to the Ancient elements reused during the Renaissance. The two bodies dresser almost looks like two trunks – which may have been how the first “buffets” were created at the beginning of the Renaissance. Moreover, the dresser's multiple drawers give it a typical Renaissance-style structure.

Ref.14086
Concrete garden furniture attributed to Willy Guhl

Four-pieces living room by Swiss designer Willy Guhl from the 1950s in natural fiber cement. « Willy Guhl was an inventor, an experimenter, a resercher and a visionary. Despite that, he did not get lost in utopia. He reveals himself to be pragmatic almost a genius. » Robert Haussman Willy Guhl was part of these historical designers historiques who have contributed to the international reputation of the Swiss design. He was one of the big representative of Neo-Functionalism. From a carpenter father, he follows a furniture maker formation in the Kunstgewerbeschule of Zurich – School of applied arts of Zurich here he teaches from 1941 -, and becomes the director of the interior architecture department 10 years after. He leads in the late 1940's pionneer reaserches in the plastic furniture field. He develops then a knowledge about moulding technical that we allow him to reveal himself by transposing them on a new material : the Eternit, also called fibercement, which he is one of the first to use in Europe. The Eternit is a kind of cement reinforce by asbestos and with a fiber texture which allows to create audacious pieces with new shapes. It takes the aspect of larges slabs to which it is possible to give a shape as long as they are not dried. Produced in the origin for the industry, it's a cheap material with an important resistance, so perfectly adapted for the fabrication of external furniture.

Ref.12419
Eduard Stellmacher for Amphora, Frog Vase, circa 1900

This Jugendstil enameled ceramic vase was created by Eduard Stellmacher for the Amphora manufactory around 1900. The German artist Eduard Stellmacher was notably a designer and artistic director of the famous Amphora ceramic factory, which had been founded by his father in Northern Bohemia, in Teplitz, in 1892. The decoration of his vase features a frog navigating water lily leaves, defying the laws of gravity. The three cut-edged leaves form the neck of the vase. Along with the frog, the golden insect perched on another leaf adds a touch of life and naturalism to the piece, which is part of the Art Nouveau movement (called “Jugendstil” in Germany and Austria). The subtle color nuances visible on the body of the vase demonstrate the artistic complexity of the works produced by the factory at that time. The vase bears the Amphora mark under its base. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston has a vase that can be dated to the same period as this one, also showcasing the artist’s taste for naturalism and detail. The Marc Maison gallery also has a dragon vase made by Stellmacher for Amphora, identical to the one in the Houston museum, except for the coloring.