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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.

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BALLEROY & Co. (porcelain), Joseph Albert PONSIN (painter), Pair of Decorative Plates Adorned with Portraits of an Assyrian Man and Woman, 1876?

This Pair of Ornamental Porcelain Dishes Was Crafted by the Company Balleroy & Cie in Limoges and Decorated by Joseph Albert Ponsin, Likely in 1876 Both dishes bear the mark of the company Balleroy & Cie. In 1900, brothers Antoine and Henri Balleroy acquired a factory in Limoges. Their partnership with Léon Mandavy and Paul Grenouillet de Mavaleix four years later resulted in the formation of the company “Balleroy & Cie”. The Balleroy brothers continued the business independently from 1908 onward, and Henri Balleroy eventually assumed sole leadership in 1929, managing the enterprise until its closure in 1937. The works are signed by Joseph Albert Ponsin (1842-1899), a former actor and songwriter who became one of the most renowned stained-glass painters of the late 19th century. Awarded a bronze medal at the 1889 World Fair, Ponsin also designed a “luminous palace” made of several thousand molded glass pieces for the 1900 Paris Exhibition. His use of porcelain is highly unusual within his work. The decorations on the two dishes are complementary, both in their chromatic harmony and in the selection and poses of the figures. The male figure’s profile exudes a certain severity, despite his slightly smiling lips. His long hair is matched by a similarly full beard. He wears an earring, and his opulent tunic combines gold and green. The female figure, in contrast, stands out against a blue background. Her attire is distinctly oriental: her gown is trimmed with gold, and her long black hair is adorned with a veil, secured on each side by two serpents and a wide golden band. In front of her is a white bird with a long yellow beak, which wraps its neck around one of its wings. Beneath the artist’s signature, the inscription “1[8?]76” provides an approximate date for the creation of these works. The portrait of the man bears a resemblance to the Dish with Assyrian Design by Théodore Deck and Albert Anker, housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Both Anker and Ponsin appear to have drawn inspiration from the same source: Sir Henry Layard’s publication, The Monuments of Nineveh from Drawings Made on the Spot Illustrated in 100 Plates (London, 1849). In Ponsin’s work, the male figure’s profile closely mirrors those in Layard’s book, though he took greater liberties than Anker in his interpretation of the character’s headdress.