展品专文
This exquisite table is a superb example of the cooperation between Édouard Lièvre’s imaginative designs in ‘le style japonais et chinois’ and the refined technical prowess of the renowned bronzier Ferdinand Barbedienne.
EDOUARD LIEVRE: A LEGACY OF FURNITURE DESIGN
Edouard Lièvre (d. 1886), rife with ingenuity and boundless talent, remains one of the most influential and prolific industrial designers of the second half of the 19th century, ultimately becoming synonymous with the Japonisme movement in France beginning in the 1860s. With a broad repertoire that included ‘sinojaponais’ and neo-Renaissance style furniture and ceramics, the artist trained initially as an illustrator under Thomas Couture but became fully immersed in decorative art and design by 1870. His earliest collaboration with Christofle, the pre-eminent silversmiths,for a design for a ‘vase persan’ in 1874. Lièvre also had a number of private clients to whom he supplied bespoke furnishings, including the actress Sarah Bernhardt (a monumental cheval mirror) and Albert Vieillard, director of Bordeaux's ceramics factory (a related japonisme cabinet now in the Musée d'Orsay, inv. OAO555).
EAST MEETS WEST: FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE AND EDOUARD LIEVRE
Following the loosening trade restrictions and the restoration of the Meiji Emperor in the third quarter of the 19th century, Japan began to participate in the West’s International Exhibitions and promote its nation’s products. Fascinated by this influx of new aesthetic vocabulary of these Eastern cultures, Western artisans began to study these Eastern forms and techniques, creating their own works by adopting and reinterpreting this new found source of inspiration. In doing so these designers created a constructed view of the East, an amalgamation of Eastern and Western influences, which anticipated the organic forms of Art Nouveau and Aestheticism. Though the fashion for combing materials from the East with those of the West was popular under the ancient regime, the technical advances of the second half of the 19th century perpetuated through the exhibitions on advancement and industry provided a new framework for the creation of unique and au corant designs. Lièvre, one of the most talented draughtsmen and prolific industrial designers of the second half of the 19th century, and became one the preeminent tastemakers of this enthusiasm and style, coined ‘japonisme’. To execute his exacting designs, Lièvre collaborated with one of the most distinguished bronziers of the 19th century, Ferdinand Barbedienne. The firm of Collas & Barbedienne specialized in bronze reductions since 1846, and developed techniques to perform fine metal cutting, bronze mounting, marble work, turning, enamel decoration, and crystal engraving. The collaboration resulted in visionary and imaginative showpieces, including aquariums on similarly modeled patinated and gilt-bronze stands in the form of bamboo incorporating mythical dragons (a rare example sold Christie’s, London, 8 July 2021, lot 33, £437,500). A related pair of cloisonné vases on similar stands sold in Japonisme, Christie’s, Paris, 15 October 2018, lot 9 (€355,500).
EMPRESS EUGENIE: ARBITER OF STYLE
France’s increased military and diplomatic activism across Asia during the Second Empire also contributed greatly to the influence and development of in ‘le style japonais et chinois’ particularly through the artifacts that made their way to Paris. The creation of the Musée Chinois at Fontainebleau under Napoleon’s regime was instructed by Empress Eugénie. The museum opened in 1863 with artifacts from the Qing Dynasty, including plunderage from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, diplomatic gifts from the Kingdom of Siam, among other items looted during the French revolution and acquisitions she obtained through the market. Eugénie initially envisioned the space as a private place to entertain friends, and furnished the rooms with French furniture and decorative arts in the new taste to complement the works of art. This included commissions by contemporary artisans including Barbedienne, who created a three-meter high lantern-form chandelier incorporating Kangxi vase and a cloisonne enamel Qianlong incense burner both from the group of items removed from the Summer Palace (Fontainebleau, inv. F. 1324 C).
EDOUARD LIEVRE: A LEGACY OF FURNITURE DESIGN
Edouard Lièvre (d. 1886), rife with ingenuity and boundless talent, remains one of the most influential and prolific industrial designers of the second half of the 19th century, ultimately becoming synonymous with the Japonisme movement in France beginning in the 1860s. With a broad repertoire that included ‘sinojaponais’ and neo-Renaissance style furniture and ceramics, the artist trained initially as an illustrator under Thomas Couture but became fully immersed in decorative art and design by 1870. His earliest collaboration with Christofle, the pre-eminent silversmiths,for a design for a ‘vase persan’ in 1874. Lièvre also had a number of private clients to whom he supplied bespoke furnishings, including the actress Sarah Bernhardt (a monumental cheval mirror) and Albert Vieillard, director of Bordeaux's ceramics factory (a related japonisme cabinet now in the Musée d'Orsay, inv. OAO555).
EAST MEETS WEST: FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE AND EDOUARD LIEVRE
Following the loosening trade restrictions and the restoration of the Meiji Emperor in the third quarter of the 19th century, Japan began to participate in the West’s International Exhibitions and promote its nation’s products. Fascinated by this influx of new aesthetic vocabulary of these Eastern cultures, Western artisans began to study these Eastern forms and techniques, creating their own works by adopting and reinterpreting this new found source of inspiration. In doing so these designers created a constructed view of the East, an amalgamation of Eastern and Western influences, which anticipated the organic forms of Art Nouveau and Aestheticism. Though the fashion for combing materials from the East with those of the West was popular under the ancient regime, the technical advances of the second half of the 19th century perpetuated through the exhibitions on advancement and industry provided a new framework for the creation of unique and au corant designs. Lièvre, one of the most talented draughtsmen and prolific industrial designers of the second half of the 19th century, and became one the preeminent tastemakers of this enthusiasm and style, coined ‘japonisme’. To execute his exacting designs, Lièvre collaborated with one of the most distinguished bronziers of the 19th century, Ferdinand Barbedienne. The firm of Collas & Barbedienne specialized in bronze reductions since 1846, and developed techniques to perform fine metal cutting, bronze mounting, marble work, turning, enamel decoration, and crystal engraving. The collaboration resulted in visionary and imaginative showpieces, including aquariums on similarly modeled patinated and gilt-bronze stands in the form of bamboo incorporating mythical dragons (a rare example sold Christie’s, London, 8 July 2021, lot 33, £437,500). A related pair of cloisonné vases on similar stands sold in Japonisme, Christie’s, Paris, 15 October 2018, lot 9 (€355,500).
EMPRESS EUGENIE: ARBITER OF STYLE
France’s increased military and diplomatic activism across Asia during the Second Empire also contributed greatly to the influence and development of in ‘le style japonais et chinois’ particularly through the artifacts that made their way to Paris. The creation of the Musée Chinois at Fontainebleau under Napoleon’s regime was instructed by Empress Eugénie. The museum opened in 1863 with artifacts from the Qing Dynasty, including plunderage from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, diplomatic gifts from the Kingdom of Siam, among other items looted during the French revolution and acquisitions she obtained through the market. Eugénie initially envisioned the space as a private place to entertain friends, and furnished the rooms with French furniture and decorative arts in the new taste to complement the works of art. This included commissions by contemporary artisans including Barbedienne, who created a three-meter high lantern-form chandelier incorporating Kangxi vase and a cloisonne enamel Qianlong incense burner both from the group of items removed from the Summer Palace (Fontainebleau, inv. F. 1324 C).