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Lot Essay
The present gueridon epitomize the French Japonisme style fashionable during the second half of the 19th century, particularly those objets d'art which were exhibited at the Great Exhibitions. The stylistic vocabulary interprets Japanese motifs, such as the geometric fretwork, exotic crane and climbing cherry blossom baluster. Furthermore, the combination of gilt and silvered bronze was intended to imitate Japanese mixed-metal objects known as mokume.
This iridescent effect is most commonly associated with the designs of sculptor Eugène Cornu (d. 1875), who owned marble quarries in Algeria and collaborated almost exclusively with the bronzier G. Viot et Cie. to create his meubles et objets de luxe. Notably, his Compagnie des Marbres Onyx d'Algérie famously displayed a magnificent pair of enamel and bronze-mounted onyx vases with elephant-head stands at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris.
Two variations of this whimsical gueridon are presently known; one supported by a crane, as in the present lot, and the other by a peacock. Four peacock-form tables were sold at Christie's, London: 7 February 2001, lot 441 (£21,150); 28 November 2001, lot 465 (£9,400); 23 September 2010, lots 75 and 76 (£34,850 and £32,450, respectively). The present crane design is decidedly rarer. A single table of this form sold Sotheby's, New York, 15 April 2011, lot 225 ($74,500).
This iridescent effect is most commonly associated with the designs of sculptor Eugène Cornu (d. 1875), who owned marble quarries in Algeria and collaborated almost exclusively with the bronzier G. Viot et Cie. to create his meubles et objets de luxe. Notably, his Compagnie des Marbres Onyx d'Algérie famously displayed a magnificent pair of enamel and bronze-mounted onyx vases with elephant-head stands at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris.
Two variations of this whimsical gueridon are presently known; one supported by a crane, as in the present lot, and the other by a peacock. Four peacock-form tables were sold at Christie's, London: 7 February 2001, lot 441 (£21,150); 28 November 2001, lot 465 (£9,400); 23 September 2010, lots 75 and 76 (£34,850 and £32,450, respectively). The present crane design is decidedly rarer. A single table of this form sold Sotheby's, New York, 15 April 2011, lot 225 ($74,500).