A pair of French 'Japonisme' ormolu and cloisonne enamel seven-light candelabra
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A pair of French 'Japonisme' ormolu and cloisonne enamel seven-light candelabra

DESIGNED BY EDOUARD LIÈVRE, MANUFACTURED BY FERDINAND BARBEDIENNE, PARIS, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A pair of French 'Japonisme' ormolu and cloisonne enamel seven-light candelabra
Designed by Edouard Lièvre, Manufactured by Ferdinand Barbedienne, Paris, Last quarter 19th Century
Each bulbous body with waisted neck supporting six scrolling branches hung with bells and terminating with circular drip-pans and pierced nozzles, the top with a scrolling finial and further similar drip-pan and nozzle, with twin salamander handles, decorated with stylised 'T' frieze, flying cranes and flowering branches, on a circular base inscribed to the top F. BARBEDIENNE, flanked by dragons to the sides, on elephant-head feet
34½ in. (88 cm.) high (2)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

These candelabra can be irrefutably attributed to Edouard Lièvre by analysing details which follow an established design pattern used by the artist: the elephant-head feet (see Connaissance des Arts, No. 228, Edouard Lièvre, Paris, 2004, illustrations pp. 28, 31 and 34); the stylised climbing dragon (op. cit., illustration p. 20); the very similar Japonisant nozzles and pendants (op. cit., illustration p. 34); the stylised 'T' frieze in the cloisonné enamel (op. cit., p. 32)

Edouard Lièvre (1828-1886) trained as a painter under Thomas Couture, before turning his attention to industrial design. His earliest important work was the vase persan designed for Christofle in 1874 and exhibited at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1878, 1889 and 1900. Among Lièvre's important clients were actress Sarah Bernhardt, courtesan Louise-Emilie Valtesse de la Bigne, and Albert Vieillard, director of Bordeaux's ceramics factory and an early Japonisme enthusiast. Following Lièvre's death, his designs were sold to Georges and Henri Pannier, owners of the elegant shop, L'Escalier de Cristal.

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