‘What connects the pieces in this exceptional group is the exquisite craftsmanship of these top makers,’ explains
Casey Rogers, Christie’s specialist, of the
works offered in A Golden Age: An Important Collection of 19th Century Furniture & Decorative Art on 16 October in New York.
The auction presents furniture by the top Parisian cabinet makers
of the 19th century, including works by the
Beurdeley dynasty,
Paul Sormani,
Henry Dasson, Lexcellent, and
Françios Linke.
‘The best Paris-made furniture is so exquisitely crafted,’ notes
Giles Forster, Decorative Arts specialist at Christie’s. ‘It
combines rare materials and precious materials to create
perfectly beautiful objects.’
The first piece the specialists look at is a writing desk by Henry Dasson (1825-1896), who specialised in the
production of Louis XIV, XV and XVI-style furniture using
the finest gilt-bronze mounts. ‘What I really love about
this piece is just how deluxe it is in the use of exotic
materials,’ enthuses Rogers. ‘Be it in the timbers or the
hard stones, with the lapis lazuli, or the burr-amboyna with
plum pudding mahogany drawers that are so representative
of Dasson’s work.’
Made at the beginning of the Belle Époque — a time of prosperity and success, the stunning use of materials in this
desk is indicative of the optimistic, pre-World War period
that witnessed the Great Exhibitions of the 19th century,
such as the Paris Exposition Universelles of 1878, 1889 and
1900, and the American World’s Fairs of 1893 in Chicago and
1904 in St. Louis. ‘It was the last time,’ says Forster,
‘that works of this quality could be made.’
Rogers and Forster move on to admire a group of drunken putti by Benoît Rougelet (1834-1894), who first showed at the Paris Salon
of 1868. Carved from imported Italian Carrara marble, the
most precious medium for sculpture, the works reference classical
antiquity, and specifically the story of Bacchus. ‘It’s done
in a very late 19th-century treatment of the marble,’ says
Rogers, who points out the skill involved in achieving the
movement and playfulness of the drunken figures.
Lexcellent was a contemporary of Dasson
and exhibited successfully at a number of exhibitions. The
cabinet on offer in the sale features lacquer panels with ‘crazing and craquelure to look as if they’ve
been aged,’ says Rogers, and made ‘bowed to fit like a glove’. Forster,
meanwhile, marvels at the fact the drawer still closes with
nothing more than ‘a swoosh of air’ some 150 years later.
Though wildly different in design, the two pieces shown above — a carved mahogany étagère and an ormolu-mounted tulipwood cartonnier-cabinet
— are actually by the same maker and foremost retailer, Escalier
de Cristal. ‘Their variety was unmatched
in the Paris market,’ says Rogers.
Finishing with a magnificent mantle clock by one of the greatest
makers of the period, the Beurdeley dynasty, Forster stresses
the importance of signed works, which illustrate how ‘great
makers were competing with each other to make the most exquisite
furniture and works of art.’ The specific hallmarks for each
specific maker continue to be a stamp of quality, letting
modern buyers know they are investing in something of lasting
value in the same way as they did for their contemporary
clients.
‘What I love about this category,’ Rogers says in summary, ‘is that you
see objects that transcend time and space and could be seen
in any contemporary interior today.’