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Lot Essay
This pair of atheniennes were made in the 1930s under the direction of Lord Duveen to appear en suite with a pair of atheniennes of circa 1775-80 acquired by Anna Thomson Dodge from Duveen Brothers for Rose Terrace.
Designed by the banker Jean-Henri Eberts (1726-1803) after a piece of similar form in Joseph-Marie Vien's painting of 1762, La vertueuse athénienne and introduced in an advertisement in the Parisian newspaper the Avant-Coureur for 27 September, 1773, the Athénienne symbolizes the marriage of archaeological forms and fancy during the late 18th century when the neoclassic style was all the rage in fashionable intimate interiors. The multi-purpose athénienne was intended for entertaining in the salon or boudoir and was accordingly fitted with casters and an ormolu-mounted patinated copper cassolette, silvered on the inside and containing a removable spirit lamp, above which was set a tin-plated double boiler, surmounted by a marble slab and a patinated copper cover. The uses of the Athénienne were eight: as an ornament and focal point in the middle of a room; as a table under a pier mirror , or in a corner, or as a pedestal to support a candelabrum or a piece of sculpture; as a perfume burner; as a heater for making coffee, tea, or chocolate; as a goldfish bowl; as a planter to grow bulbs in winter; as a bowl for cut flowers; and as a device for keeping bouillon or other drinks warm. The Athénienne was first retailed from the shop near the porte Saint-Martin of the painter, gilder, varnisher, and author of the famous treatise on gilding, Jean-Felix Watin (b. 1728).
Designed by the banker Jean-Henri Eberts (1726-1803) after a piece of similar form in Joseph-Marie Vien's painting of 1762, La vertueuse athénienne and introduced in an advertisement in the Parisian newspaper the Avant-Coureur for 27 September, 1773, the Athénienne symbolizes the marriage of archaeological forms and fancy during the late 18th century when the neoclassic style was all the rage in fashionable intimate interiors. The multi-purpose athénienne was intended for entertaining in the salon or boudoir and was accordingly fitted with casters and an ormolu-mounted patinated copper cassolette, silvered on the inside and containing a removable spirit lamp, above which was set a tin-plated double boiler, surmounted by a marble slab and a patinated copper cover. The uses of the Athénienne were eight: as an ornament and focal point in the middle of a room; as a table under a pier mirror , or in a corner, or as a pedestal to support a candelabrum or a piece of sculpture; as a perfume burner; as a heater for making coffee, tea, or chocolate; as a goldfish bowl; as a planter to grow bulbs in winter; as a bowl for cut flowers; and as a device for keeping bouillon or other drinks warm. The Athénienne was first retailed from the shop near the porte Saint-Martin of the painter, gilder, varnisher, and author of the famous treatise on gilding, Jean-Felix Watin (b. 1728).