THE DESIGN ATTRIBUTED TO EDOUARD LIEVRE, PARIS, CIRCA 1870-80

These highly sculptural gueridons, undoubtedly designed by the 'maître de japonisme', Edouard Lièvre, closely relate to a series of tables, pedestals and stands cast by Maison Marnyhac and Ferdinand Barbedienne during the 1870s and 80s. While bronze works designed by Lièvre are often synonymous with Barbedienne, the founcry's contemporary Maison Marnyhac, the commercial name for la Société des Marbres et Bronzes Artistiques de Paris, frequently produced his designs to meet the increasing fascination in Japonisme. Much like Barbedienne's output, Marnyhac's work is often recognised by the extraordinary quality of the casting and the contrasting application of parcel-gilt and patinated surfaces.

Marnyhac specialised in the creation of objets de luxe, engaging the in-demand designer-decorators including Eugène Piat, described as 'le premier ornemaniste de ce temps’, and Lièvre. In a review of the masterpieces of the Exposition universelle of 1878, Maison Marnyhac was compared as equal to the preeminent 'maison de bronzes d’art et d’ameublement', Barbedienne. Their repertoire was extensive incorporating 'tous les styles et toutes les epoques’, Pompeiian, Chinese and Japanese, including two large 'Chinese’ cloisonné vases supported by elephant heads exhibited in 1878.

A gueridon of similar design is illustrated in Steinitz, Edouard Lièvre, exhibition catalogue, 2014, Paris, pp. 214-217.

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 the pre-eminent silversmiths and bronziers was a design for a ‘vase persan’, designed for Christofle in 1874 and exhibited at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1878, 1889 and 1900. Lièvre also had a number of private clients to whom he supplied bespoke furnishings, including the actress Sarah Bernhardt (a monumental cheval mirror), the courtisane, Louise-Emilie Valtesse de la Bigne, (an impressive bed, now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, inv. DO 1981-19), Albert Vieillard, director of Bordeaux's ceramics factory (a cabinet now in the Musée d'Orsay, inv. OAO555), and Édouard Detaille, the famous military artist for whom Lièvre supplied an étagère-vitrine and console d'apparat.

EDOUARD LIEVRE

In the 1870s, Edouard Lièvre designed a small group of furniture in ‘le style japonais et chinois’ for important private clients and for editors of luxurious furniture and objects. His designs were made by the silversmith Christofle and bronzier Barbedienne, and by the ébéniste Paul Sormani. However, Lièvre is most often associated with the marchand-éditeur and retailer of haut-luxe furnishings L'Escalier de Cristal, which was established in 1802 by Madame Désarnaud. Acquired in 1839 by M. Lahoche, the firm passed to his son-in-law, Emile Pannier circa 1864-66. In 1885, Georges and Henry Pannier succeeded their father and, much in the tradition of the 18th century marchands-merciers, often commissioned Lièvre, Gabriel Viardot and their contemporaries to create ‘sinojaponais’ decorations incorporating enamel, Baccarat crystal, Japanese lacquer and other exotic materials.

Lièvre's sketches and their reproduction rights were sold in 1890 and a large number of the designs were purchased by George and Henry Pannier. Lièvre's eclectic designs, coupled with the superiority of the craftsmanship, commanded high prices in their showrooms. According to Henry Pannier, prices for Lièvre’s designs were up to six times higher than those of other designers, including his contemporary, Gabriel Viardot. Fascinatingly, some pages from Henry Pannier’s account book survive which list a number of orders for L'Escalier de Cristal alongside simplified pen and ink designs for étagères, console tables and Japanese-inspired cabinets (P. Thiébaut, ‘Contribution à une histoire du mobilier japonisant: Les Créations de l´Escalier de Cristal’, Revue de l’art, 1989, No. 85, p. 78).

This meticulously assembled collection, one of the most comprehensive in private hands, effectively spans the artist's oeuvre of furniture and objects. With attentive details and masterful craftmanship, this exquisite assembly of furniture and objects is ultimately a window into the Lièvre's artistic vision and an homage to his enduring influence on contemportary and historic design.