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Lot Essay
Specializing in néo-Grec decorations and furnishings, Charles-Guillaume Diehl’s medal-winning display at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle included the 'Triomphe de Mérovée' cabinet à médailles (purchased by the Louvre in 1973 and now on display in the Musée d'Orsay, OA10440, and of which there is another example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the Coffret Impérial à bijoux for Princesse Mathilde (Château Compiègne).
A collaboration between Diehl, Kowalewski, his chief ébéniste, and the industrial designer Jean Brandely, it was Brandely who provided the plans for furniture and designs for both marquetry and bronze applications. Described as "a bold, strange artist...an enterprising man with spontaneity" (Auguste Luchet in L'Art Industrielle á l'Exposition Universelle de 1867: Mobilier, vêtement, aliments, Paris, 1868), Brandely is often credited with the distinctive figural mounts replicated on the present lot and other works in the néo-Grec style, for which Diehl became so renowned.
A single example of the present model is illustrated in H. Samaha, Beirut: Hidden Treasures¸ 2014, p. 221 and a variant was sold Christie’s, New York, 20-21 April 2005, lot 52 ($31,200).
A collaboration between Diehl, Kowalewski, his chief ébéniste, and the industrial designer Jean Brandely, it was Brandely who provided the plans for furniture and designs for both marquetry and bronze applications. Described as "a bold, strange artist...an enterprising man with spontaneity" (Auguste Luchet in L'Art Industrielle á l'Exposition Universelle de 1867: Mobilier, vêtement, aliments, Paris, 1868), Brandely is often credited with the distinctive figural mounts replicated on the present lot and other works in the néo-Grec style, for which Diehl became so renowned.
A single example of the present model is illustrated in H. Samaha, Beirut: Hidden Treasures¸ 2014, p. 221 and a variant was sold Christie’s, New York, 20-21 April 2005, lot 52 ($31,200).