.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Bearing the cypher of the Empress Eugenie and decorated with the Imperial regalia, this gueridon is a fascinating gift from an Emperor and Empress in exile. Typifying the lavish Napoleon III style, the gueridon was brought to England at the fall of the Second French Empire and, as detailed on the plaque at the centre of the table, was given at Napoleon III's death to Nathaniel Strode, owner of Camden Place in Chislehurst, a country house in the French style where the Imperial couple made their home in England.
With a profusion of decorative motifs, elaborate metalwork and hybrid neoclassical motifs the gueridon encapsulates the ‘Second Empire’ style, better known simply as ‘Napoleon III’. With alternating shields bearing the Imperial Arms of the Second Empire and the monogram of the Empress Eugénie, the ornamental grammar of this gueridon relates to Imperial architectural commissions like the façade of the Opéra Garnier and more specifically to the Villa Eugénie in Biarritz which was constructed as a private summer residence for the Imperial Couple between 1854 and 1855. The villa’s façade was centred by a cartouche similarly flanked by winged putti and containing the same Imperial arms as those depicted on the shields of the gueridon. The combination of silvered and gilt bronze, winged putti with acanthus scroll bodies and other decorative elements relate to large items of metalwork produced in the 1850s and 1860s for Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie by leading firms such as Christofle & Cie. Indeed certain design elements of the table, particularly ornamental elements of the base and stem relate to designs for candelabra, tea services, surtouts and other metalwork by Christofle executed for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867. Further comparisons can be drawn between the design of the gueridon and pieces supplied by the firm to the Imperial government, including the putti, scrolling acanthus, and form of a pair of silver centrepieces currently preserved in the Louvre (OA 11681-2) and the base of a set of four compotiers also in the Louvre (OA 11696).
THE PROVENANCE
The plaque inset into the centre of the table indicates that the gueridon was given as a ‘final memory’ of Napoleon III on his death in 1873 to Nathaniel Strode (1817-1889), owner of Camden Place in Chislehurst, Kent where Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie had been living in exile since they had fled France in 1870-71. The relationship between Napoleon III and Strode is fascinating, secretive and politically complex, seemingly predating Napoleon III’s accession to the throne and linked to his days as a young exile in London in the 1840s. Strode was a trustee and agent of Harriet Howard (1823–1865), Napoleon’s lover and principal financier of his return to France and the subsequent 1851 coup that gave him the imperial crown. Howard moved to France with Napoleon III in 1848 but on his elevation to Emperor she was cast aside as Napoleon sought a politically acceptable consort. Subsequently elevated to Comtesse de Beauregard and renumerated by the Emperor, Howard remained in France until her death in 1865.
Nathaniel Strode had acquired Camden Place, some 20 years after he had first associated with Howard and Napoleon III and in 1860 set about transforming it into a specifically French-style country residence with boiseries from the château de Bercy and a temple based on one in the gardens of Saint-Cloud. Intriguingly, shortly after these modifications to the house between 1862-64, Strode received 900,000 francs from the French civil list. While this could have been reimbursement for his role in Harriet Howard’s funding of Napoleon III’s political campaign it is intriguing to venture that the funds were paid for the acquisition and beautification of an English ‘safe house’ for the Emperor at Camden Place. In any case, when Napoleon III was captured at Sedan and the Empress fled Paris, Strode offered Eugénie the use of Camden Place at a greatly reduced rent and the offer was accepted.
It is probable that the gueridon was previously installed in the Villa Eugénie in Biarritz. As a newly constructed residence in the 1850s Eugénie would have likely had furniture made for the villa and as stated earlier the architecture of the villa employed prominent use of Eugénie’s imperial arms. What is more, the Villa Eugénie remained the private property of Napoleon III and Eugénie and in the early 1870s Eugénie began to reclaim furnishings from the Villa. After the Prince Imperial’s death in 1879, Eugenie left Camden Place which returned to Strode’s occupation until 1895.
With a profusion of decorative motifs, elaborate metalwork and hybrid neoclassical motifs the gueridon encapsulates the ‘Second Empire’ style, better known simply as ‘Napoleon III’. With alternating shields bearing the Imperial Arms of the Second Empire and the monogram of the Empress Eugénie, the ornamental grammar of this gueridon relates to Imperial architectural commissions like the façade of the Opéra Garnier and more specifically to the Villa Eugénie in Biarritz which was constructed as a private summer residence for the Imperial Couple between 1854 and 1855. The villa’s façade was centred by a cartouche similarly flanked by winged putti and containing the same Imperial arms as those depicted on the shields of the gueridon. The combination of silvered and gilt bronze, winged putti with acanthus scroll bodies and other decorative elements relate to large items of metalwork produced in the 1850s and 1860s for Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie by leading firms such as Christofle & Cie. Indeed certain design elements of the table, particularly ornamental elements of the base and stem relate to designs for candelabra, tea services, surtouts and other metalwork by Christofle executed for the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867. Further comparisons can be drawn between the design of the gueridon and pieces supplied by the firm to the Imperial government, including the putti, scrolling acanthus, and form of a pair of silver centrepieces currently preserved in the Louvre (OA 11681-2) and the base of a set of four compotiers also in the Louvre (OA 11696).
THE PROVENANCE
The plaque inset into the centre of the table indicates that the gueridon was given as a ‘final memory’ of Napoleon III on his death in 1873 to Nathaniel Strode (1817-1889), owner of Camden Place in Chislehurst, Kent where Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie had been living in exile since they had fled France in 1870-71. The relationship between Napoleon III and Strode is fascinating, secretive and politically complex, seemingly predating Napoleon III’s accession to the throne and linked to his days as a young exile in London in the 1840s. Strode was a trustee and agent of Harriet Howard (1823–1865), Napoleon’s lover and principal financier of his return to France and the subsequent 1851 coup that gave him the imperial crown. Howard moved to France with Napoleon III in 1848 but on his elevation to Emperor she was cast aside as Napoleon sought a politically acceptable consort. Subsequently elevated to Comtesse de Beauregard and renumerated by the Emperor, Howard remained in France until her death in 1865.
Nathaniel Strode had acquired Camden Place, some 20 years after he had first associated with Howard and Napoleon III and in 1860 set about transforming it into a specifically French-style country residence with boiseries from the château de Bercy and a temple based on one in the gardens of Saint-Cloud. Intriguingly, shortly after these modifications to the house between 1862-64, Strode received 900,000 francs from the French civil list. While this could have been reimbursement for his role in Harriet Howard’s funding of Napoleon III’s political campaign it is intriguing to venture that the funds were paid for the acquisition and beautification of an English ‘safe house’ for the Emperor at Camden Place. In any case, when Napoleon III was captured at Sedan and the Empress fled Paris, Strode offered Eugénie the use of Camden Place at a greatly reduced rent and the offer was accepted.
It is probable that the gueridon was previously installed in the Villa Eugénie in Biarritz. As a newly constructed residence in the 1850s Eugénie would have likely had furniture made for the villa and as stated earlier the architecture of the villa employed prominent use of Eugénie’s imperial arms. What is more, the Villa Eugénie remained the private property of Napoleon III and Eugénie and in the early 1870s Eugénie began to reclaim furnishings from the Villa. After the Prince Imperial’s death in 1879, Eugenie left Camden Place which returned to Strode’s occupation until 1895.