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GEORGES HOENTSCHEL (1855-1915) The French artist and architect Georges Hoentschel was a renowned interior decorator around 1900. In his workshop 55 craftsmen manufactured interiors, including panelling and soft furnishing, mainly for influential and rich clients such as the French nobility. Besides being an interior decorator, Hoentschel worked as a ceramist. His drip glazed earthenware products show direct links to Japanese ceramics. Also Georges Hoentschel was a collector himself of 18th century decorative arts and medieval art. The major part of his impressive collection came in the possession of John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), a well known American financer and fellow collector of Hoentschel. He on his turn bequeathed the collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Therefore nowadays Hoentschel's private collection is internationally known. Georges Hoentschel was responsible for the interior design of four rooms in the pavilion of the Union Central des Art Décoratifs (UCAD) for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, the only project where the artist acted as an architect. Also Armand-Albert Rateau (1882-1938) assisted as an employee of Hoentschel's workshop. The main room was the Salle du Bois, executed by the sculptor Léon Julien Deschamps (1860-1929) showing pieces of furniture with great similarities in detail and construction to the presently offered showcase. Especially the branches and flowers alongside its legs and top are similar in detail to the showcase in the Paris exhibition pavilion. Although there is no record of the present offered showcase having been at an exhibition, the quality of the craftsmanship is of exhibition level. After the Paris exhibition the Salle du Bois was adapted and used for the 1904 Saint-Louis World Exhibition, USA. Afterwards the first commissioner, the UCAD, purchased the room to put it on show in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Other parts of the interior, a corner showcase, was bought by the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (see illustration of the Hamburg showcase).

George Hoentschel

AN ART NOUVEAU DISPLAY CABINET

Details

George Hoentschel
AN ART NOUVEAU DISPLAY CABINET
Demi-lune shape, elaborately carved with branches and flowers, two glass panels, the interior lined with brown velours
179 cm. high x 91 cm. wide x 41 cm. deep

Special notice

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the final bid price of each lot sold at the following rates: 23.8% of the final bid price of each lot sold up to and including €150,000 and 14.28% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyers' premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

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