Ref.12449
Eugène Piat (attr. to), Gilt-bronze wall light

This sumptuous gilt bronze wall lantern is attributed to Eugène Piat (1827-1903). The design, with its historicist references, complex and inventive, is typical of the ornemaniste. The acanthus leaves unfurl into a winged chimera forming both the lantern and a basket housing a modernised lighting system. If there is one artist who grasped the full significance of industry applied to the arts, it is assuredly Eugène Piat. A leading figure in the nineteenth-century rapprochement between industry and the arts, Piat was among the co-founders in 1864 of the Union Centrale des Beaux-arts appliqués à l'Industrie, the forerunner of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Our wall lantern is representative of his work in that the artist applies the technical possibilities offered by industry to the bronze d'art. Piat collaborated with numerous trading houses, among them De Marnyhac, Lemerle-Charpentier, Maison Marchand and Mottheau, whose preferred clientele was the urban bourgeoisie. In 1889, the Jury of the Universal Exhibition observed: « Manufacturers owe him their greatest successes. » The choice of gilt bronze and the prominence of ornamentation reflect the relative need felt by the nineteenth-century urban bourgeoisie to manifest its opulence. The historicist and eclectic aesthetic then in vogue particularly appealed to this rising bourgeoisie, eager to signal its command of historical references, which it wished to be at least equal to that of the nobility. Although the founder of our model is unknown today, the quality of the casting is excellent and allows for an attribution to the Maison Barbedienne. By skilfully employing vegetal elements in his composition, Eugène Piat confers upon this wall lantern an effect of continuous metamorphosis. One of the chimera's legs rests on a lion-headed mascaron while the other is extended toward the basket; the lower part of its body transforms into foliage brushing against the winged bust, while from the unfurling volute forming the neck emerges a grotesque mask from which the imposing basket is suspended. The design, of great virtuosity, skilfully blends volutes and rinceaux with the wings that form the main support of the sconce. This work presents an association of styles characteristic of the ornemaniste's historicist production: a trefoil motif at the base of the basket (Gothic inspiration), a lion-muzzle mascaron (Renaissance), palmettes along the rim of the basket (Greek Antiquity), and the sinuous form of the chimera's body (evoking the Chinese dragons fashionable in France from the eighteenth century). His numerous collaborations contributed to his international recognition. The 1889 Universal Exhibition was a resounding success for Piat, the only artist in Group III (furniture and accessories) to win a Grand Prix. The jury was effusive in its praise: « Mr Piat deserves it in every respect; for nearly forty years, he has been at the forefront of those industrial artists who ensure the pre-eminence of our art industries. Mr Piat is the creator of the most remarkable works to have appeared at the international exhibitions [...]. » At the end of his career, he donated his archives and his most important works to the Musée Saint-Loup in Troyes, thereby contributing to the creation of one of the first museums dedicated to the decorative arts in France.

Ref.13325
Series of four simple Louis XV style doors

These four simple doors were made of wood painted in white in the late 19th century. Three of them are identical and present a beautiful Rococo decoration in relief composed of scrolls, shells and acanthus leaves on their main side. The verso is not adorned but we can see frame line of the main side. The fourth door is adorned on both sides, the recto depicts a beautiful Louis XV decoration with the same decoration than on the three others, while the verso depicts a simple paneled decoration.

Ref.13323
Series of three double wood doors with glasses

Series of three double doors with glasses on more than half of the heigh, some are bearing recent mirrors stuck above, especially on the lower part. The door's ironworks are made of bronze.

Ref.13418
Pair of double oak doors with an Oriental inspiration

These double doors were made of oak in the 19th century. They are adorned on their main side with an Oriental inspired decoration.

Ref.15235
BACCARAT - Pair of Persian ruby bottle-shaped vases, circa 1880

This pair of Persian bottle-shaped vases with Japanese vegetal decoration was made by the Baccarat crystal works around 1880. Founded under the reign of Louis XV, the French crystal manufacturer Baccarat excellence at the World's Fairs throughout the 19th century. These ruby-hued blown crystal vases feature acid-etched and gilded decoration. The Japanese-style decoration features a plant stretching its branches around the circumference, interrupted only at the ring, in the middle of the neck, and at the top. The top of the neck is decorated with geometric friezes. The influence of Japanese prints is perceptible in the theme, as well as in the way of space and the representation of the plant world. Each vase bears an antique label on the base, marked "BACCARAT - FRANCE". The Baccarat crystal works produced a number of ruby-colored vases with very similar designs similar to this one in the 1880s, including two from a set that sold at at Drouot in 2016.

Ref.5112
Louis XVI periode mantel in statuary marble adorned with a string of pearls

Ref.5555
Louis XVI style carved in Carrara marble mantel with flower

This fireplace is in the XVI-style and is made of Carrara marble. This white marble, sometimes with gray veins, quarried in the Apuan Alps, highlights the fireplace’s central and lateral flower motifs. The band is adorned with a central ceiling rose featuring a flower. On either side of this ceiling rose, moldings extend across the band, following its shape. On the console part of the fireplace, acanthus leaves and a bud form a flower motif in relief, contrasting with the rest of the fireplace. The rest of the fireplace legs repeat the fluting motifs of the Greek columns, with variations added by filling in the fluting at the bottom of the leg.