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Lot Essay
With the firm's founder Charles Christofle's death in 1863 it passed to his son Paul (1838-1907) and nephew Henri Bouilhet (183-1910) who worked to promote fine workmanship and good design which they showcased at the international exhibitions. They appointed Emile-Auguste Reiber (1826-1893) as head of Christofle's design studio in 1865 and he developed, in addition to their usual production of silverware, an inspired series of quite extraordinary Japanese style pieces.
Reiber had at his disposal Christofle's considerable technical capabilities in orfèvrerie, galvanoplastie (electroplating) and bronzework. He produced Grecian, Indian and Renaissance, as well as Japanese, designs, but his genius was finding at Christofle the capability to realise them in three-dimensions and in such exceptional quality. His innovation was therefore both technical and artistic. He sought to imitate the cloisonnés enamels and mixed-metal bronzework perfected over millennia in Japan and China. Rieber's Meiji counterparts gathered together in Kyoto artists with differing expertise in casting, enamel and patination, to work in collaboration in the creation of a single piece, whereas in the West only at Christofle could Rieber have found the skill to start manufacture afresh and under one roof.
It is probable that these vases were designed for Christofle's stand at the 1874 Exposition de L'Union Centrale, the precursor of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs. Please see Lot 265 for further information on Emile Reiber.
Reiber had at his disposal Christofle's considerable technical capabilities in orfèvrerie, galvanoplastie (electroplating) and bronzework. He produced Grecian, Indian and Renaissance, as well as Japanese, designs, but his genius was finding at Christofle the capability to realise them in three-dimensions and in such exceptional quality. His innovation was therefore both technical and artistic. He sought to imitate the cloisonnés enamels and mixed-metal bronzework perfected over millennia in Japan and China. Rieber's Meiji counterparts gathered together in Kyoto artists with differing expertise in casting, enamel and patination, to work in collaboration in the creation of a single piece, whereas in the West only at Christofle could Rieber have found the skill to start manufacture afresh and under one roof.
It is probable that these vases were designed for Christofle's stand at the 1874 Exposition de L'Union Centrale, the precursor of the Musée des Arts Decoratifs. Please see Lot 265 for further information on Emile Reiber.