Ref.10585
Beautiful pair of Napoleon III style gilt bronze andirons with military trophies

This beautiful pair of Napoleon III style gilt bronze andirons was made during the 19th century. They are decorated with finely chiseled military trophies on the feet and cups with flames on the upper part, recalling the warrior theme of these andirons. The central bars are decorated with a spread rosette inspired by the Louis XVI style . The bronze is very fine and elaborate like the veins on the garlanded laurel branches, symbol of victory, or the beaded borders.

Ref.13299
Pair of vases in malachite and gilt bronze, Russia, late 19th century

This beautiful pair of vases was made of gilt bronze and malachite. It's very likely a Russian work from the end of the 19th century. The belly of our vases was made of malachite and welcomes a Rococo style decoration of gilt bronze. The whole decoration was made of gilt bronze, like the handles which are also reminding of the Louis XV style as they are shaped of thin acanthus leaves scrolls, or even the neck where are attached the handles and the foot. Finally, from the neck a beautiful gilt bronze tulips bouquet springs while the vase rests on a small malachite square base. The malachite, is an intense green stone because of its high copper composition, which makes it very appreciated in the 19th century. This stone mainly comes from Russia where important deposit are known since the 17th century, we can name the one called Nijni Taguil, discovered in 1835 and exploited by the Count Demidoff (1812 - 1870). Used in bloc to create small objects, the malachite can't be used for big pieces as the ones we can make in marble. That's why the technic called “Rusian mosaïc” was invented during the second half of the 19th century : malachite strips are inlaid to create the illusion of a block , allowing to put this extraordinary color on walls, columns or other interior elements like in the Malachite Room in the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. It's the Royal stone manufactory of Peterhof and Ekaterinbourg that develop this art which quickly seduces the aristocracy. This technic is discovered in France when Alexander I of Russia (1777 - 1825) gifted Napoléon Ier (1769 – 1821) a set of malachite element in 1808. Candelabras, big vases and basins are placed in the Emperor Room in Trianon, which became the “Malachite Room”. The new beauty of this sophisticated art creates an important enthusiasm which lasts during the entire 19th century.

Ref.12389
Victor GEOFFROY-DECHAUME, Pair of incense burners made out of silvered bronze, adorned with dogs, circa 1840

This pair of incense burners made out of silvered bronze and adorned with dogs is a work by the goldsmith and sculptor Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume (1816-1892), as indicated by the chiselled signature on the covert’s backs. This pair of incense burners is a testimony of the taste, combining references to the arabic and medieval arts, that develops itself during the 1840 decade, in every field of the decorative arts and in particular in the work of Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume, a prolific designer for civil and religious goldsmithing models. He entered the Beaux-Arts school of Paris in 1831, where he was the student of David d’Agners and James Pradier. His taste pushed him into dedicating himself to decorative arts, and in particular to model designs for goldsmithing, until 1848, when he discovered the medieval sculpture. He gave numerous designs for other artists to use as models, for example the bronzemaker Auguste-Maximilien Delafontaine (1813-1892) or the goldsmith François-Désiré Froment-Meurice (1801-1855). Then, circa 1850, he went for the study of monumental statuary and more accurately of medieval statuary. He became one of Viollet-le-Duc’s principal collaborators and participated thus at some of the biggest restoration sites, like the Chartres cathedral, Notre-Dame of Paris or the Sainte-Chapelle. A multiple and fecund artist, he was at the same time a restorator of religious buildings, a sculptor of monumental pieces, commemorative statues, a goldsmith for the princes and a prolific moulder. In 1855, Geoffroy-Dechaume is appointed director at the Museum for Comparative sculpture (actual Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine). Our pair of incense burners is thus realised according to the main works of the first part of Geoffroy-Dechaume’s career. At this time he dedicated himself to decorative arts and to goldsmithing by producing models and works which ornamental references find their sources into arabic and medieval arts. We recognize these inspirations thanks to the polylobed and animated shapes of our incense burners. Made out of silvered bronze, they present on the top two small sculptures depicting dogs. Their bodies have been pounded with small, abstract patterns bringing them some texture and reminding of the oriental inspiration. The two scenes are different, since on the first one, we can see the dogs fighting, sitted, one biting the other’s neck, while on the other burner, a sitting female is nourishing her babies. These canine figures are set on a ring adorned with oriental patterns and pierced with holes in order for the incense to spread. On the four-feeted base, the sinuous lines and the decoration does form an hybridisation between oriental art and grotesque or even monstruous forms from gothic art, for example with the stylished paw-feet or the scale motif. Bibliography : Catalogue of the exhibition « De plâtre et d’or. Geoffroy-Dechaume sculpteur romantique de Viollet-le-Duc. » Musée d’art et d’Histoire Louis Senlecq, L’Isle-Adam, 1998.

Ref.15551
Gustave VANAISE, Innocence, 1884

This painting titled Innocence was created by Gustave Vanaise in 1884. Gustave Vanaise (Ghent, 1854-Saint-Gilles, 1902) studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent under Théodore Canneel, and later in Brussels. He notably produced historical paintings, portraits, and intimate scenes; many of his works are preserved at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent. Vanaise participated regularly in the Paris Salon from 1879 to 1888; in 1884, he exhibited a Young Boy with a Pigeon, which may be this very piece. This work is an allegory of Innocence. Against a backdrop of a luminous yellow cloth stands the figure of a young boy lying on the ground, propped up on his elbows; his youth and nudity, both symbols of innocence, are further emphasized by the dove he holds in his left hand, a symbol of purity. The boy seems about to kiss the bird on the beak. The scene is completed on the right by a low-relief representing a gentle Madonna and Child, set against the background. The artist’s choice of subject and treatment place this work at the boundary between allegory and intimate scene, a genre in which the painter excelled: the presence of the yellow sheet in the background, intended to close the scene, adds to the composition’s closed, intimate character, while the use of symbols and the presence of the Virgin and Child tend to place the work in allegorical painting. In a similar spirit, Vanaise painted The Bacchante, a piece housed at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. It depicts a woman crowned with ivy lying sensually on the ground, while a young boy resembling the one in Innocence – though likely a young satyr here – plays the flute.