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Lot Essay
An umbrella stand to this exact design can be found in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon, illustrated in C. Mestdagh, L'ameublement d'art français: 1850-1900, Paris, 2010, fig. 111. The stand in the museum's collection was one of only a small number of items designed by Valentine de Chaponay, comtesse de Biencourt, for her own personal use and later bequeathed to the museum by her family. It is probable that Durand was specially commissioned to produce the present lot for a friend or acquaintance of the comtesse.
Specialising in the production of 18th-century style furniture of the finest quality, Gervais-Maximillien-Eugène Durand (b. 1839) established Maison Durand in 1870 and worked from a number of workshop locations in Paris during the last quarter of the 19th century. He received a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1889. In around 1890 his son Frédéric-Louis joined the firm, which altered its name to Durand et Fils.
Specialising in the production of 18th-century style furniture of the finest quality, Gervais-Maximillien-Eugène Durand (b. 1839) established Maison Durand in 1870 and worked from a number of workshop locations in Paris during the last quarter of the 19th century. He received a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1889. In around 1890 his son Frédéric-Louis joined the firm, which altered its name to Durand et Fils.