Ref.12630
Art Nouveau mahogany woodwork from Café Barjot in Paris, 1905

This woodwork characteristic of the Art Nouveau style comes from the Café Barjot located avenue Ledru-Rollin in the 12th district of Paris, it was made in 1905. It is composed on a first wall of a symmetrical set of seven beveled mirrors - one of which is large - framed by mahogany in the shape of a stylized tree with sinuous lines. The same assembly of mirrors is found on the wall facing it, with a decoration of enamelled flowers in relief on some parts of the mirrors. The third wall is composed in its center of an alcove with beveled mirrors and a clock in a mahogany and glass decoration enamelled with plants. On either side of this alcove is a set of mahogany-framed mirrors with a relief enamel decoration of stylized flowers interlaced with leaves on a white background. Two of the panels are also inhabited by ibis. To the left, the wall continues with an arcade flanked by mahogany-framed beveled mirrors, and to the right by the same decoration, but the arcade is replaced by a large beveled mirror. The decoration of this woodwork is characteristic of the Art Nouveau style that emerged at the end of the 19th century in Europe. This style contrasts with the creations of the previous period belonging to the realistic/naturalist style, sometimes considered dark and severe. Thus, the ousting of straight lines and right angles to emphasize instead curved lines inspired by plants is a recurring feature. Fundamental elements such as color and the use of materials such as glass help to create the effect of fantasy and a feeling of lightness. Many Parisian cafés and restaurants decorated at the beginning of the 20th century have seen their walls adorned with Art Nouveau woodwork with sinuous lines decorated with mirrors and stained glass windows with decorations inspired by natural elements. For example, we can mention the restaurant Le Vagenende, boulevard Saint-Germain in the 6th arrondissement or the restaurant Maxim's rue Royale in the 8th arrondissement.

Ref.16223
Cast iron garden vase with a frieze of cupids and handles formed as winged putti

Cast iron garden vase of flared form, resting on its socle and octagonal base. The bowl widens towards the top and ends in a broadly overhanging lip, carried on a gadrooned belly, a socle and a base. This calyx form with projecting lip draws on antique kraters without reproducing any named model. The underside of the lip is decorated with a band of vine and grapes worked in low relief, continuing around the edge in a row of veined leaves. The lower part of the bowl is ordered by a row of full gadroons, separated by slender foliate falls that die away against the moulding of the socle. The frieze of the belly forms the essential of the decoration. At the centre, a cupid seated on a cloud holds above him a length of drapery gathered in one hand, while his other arm encircles a second child reclining at his feet. On either side unfold garlands of fully opened flowers, roses, anemones and poppies, each corolla individually rendered, their stems falling in festoons down to the handles. The handles are figural. Each is formed as a winged putto, draped to the waist, the torso standing in high relief clear of the belly and the arm folded above the head, the body bending and continuing into a foliate fall that rejoins the belly at the level of the gadroons. This treatment, substituting the figure for the scroll, required casting in several pieces and careful fettling, the result of which remains legible beneath the paint. The decoration belongs to the Second Empire taste for the eighteenth century, in which cupids and flower garlands take the place of the sacrificial repertoire of antiquity. It is the usual formula of the great French art foundries of the period, Val d'Osne, Durenne at Sommevoire, Ducel at Pocé-sur-Cisse or Barbezat, which adapted classical silhouettes by applying decoration of their own time. The octagonal base, with faces of 10 cm, less common than the square or circular plinth, is a distinctive feature of the model.