A French 'Japonisme' Vitrine-Cabinet Gets Top Lot at Christie’s Upcoming Sale
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A French 'Japonisme' Ormolu-Mounted Rosewood Vitrine-Cabinet will be offered in one of the featured lots at Christie’s upcoming auction, “The Collector: Silver &19th Century Furniture, Sculpture & Works of Art,” which will be held on May 23, 201A French 'Japonisme' Vitrine-Cabinet Gets Top Lot at Christie’s Upcoming Sale
A French 'Japonisme' Ormolu-Mounted Rosewood Vitrine-Cabinet will be offered in one of the featured lots at Christie’s upcoming auction, “The Collector: Silver &19th Century Furniture, Sculpture & Works of Art,” which will be held on May 23, 2019, in London. The pre-auction estimate of the present cabinet is GBP 200,000 - GBP 300,000 and it will be offered for sale in lot 572 at the auction. “This etagere-vitrine is a superlative example of a small group of furniture designed by Edouard Lievre in the 1870s in ‘le style japonais et chinois' and a model which perhaps carried particular resonance for the designer. In 1887, a year following Edouard Lievre’s death, a vitrine-cabinet matching the description of the present lot was sold from the designer’s personal collection,” states the auction house. As mentioned by Christie’s, the present piece of furniture is in the form of a Chinese pagoda, the arched pediment with inverted sides and centered by a ruyi head-shaped finial applied with the Chinese symbol ‘shou’ for longevity set between prunus branches. Above, a pierced foliage scrollwork entablature is filled with stylized lotuses, and a ‘D’-shaped recessed panel is centered by a mythical lion mask amidst scrolling leafy tendrils. The central bevel glazed door encloses a mirror-backed interior and two adjustable shelves and it is surrounded by a geometric arrangement of shelves and niches. The fixed plinth with long drawer is carved with gilt Greek-key ornament, the shaped apron is cornered by dragons, while the arched panel to the center of the pediment and the ruyi finial in the center of the cresting is replaced. The auction house further added, “One of the most talented industrial designers of the second half of the 19th century, Edouard Lievre (1828-1886) illustrated a broad repertoire that included ‘Sino-Japonais’ and neo-Renaissance style furniture, and ceramics. Trained initially as an artist under Thomas Couture, from 1870 Lievre was fully immersed in decorative art providing designs for manufacturers, marchands-editeurs, and in the tradition of marchand-merciers Lievre designed for important private clients and for editors of luxurious furniture and objects. These private clients included Albert Vieillard, the renowned director of Bordeaux's ceramics manufactory, the actress Sarah Bernhardt, and the courtesan Louise-Emilie Valtesse de la Bigne (for whom he designed an impressive bed, now in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, inv. DO 1981-19).” https://www.blouinartinfo.comFounder: Louise Blouin Read more