Joseph-Émmanuel Zwiener fl. circa 1875-1900 A transition style gilt bronze mounted kingwood bonheur du jour, Paris, last quarter 19th century

the upper structure centered by a niche fitted with one shelf and flanked to each side by a pair of small drawers, the desk fitted with a green leather lined pull out writing surface above five drawers, one mount has been removed to reveal the mark ZN from the bronze master model

Denise, Ledoux-Lebard, Le Mobilier Français du XIX Siècle, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, Paris, 2000, pp. 645-647

Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener (b. 1849) worked in Paris between 1880 and 1895. He established his workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, becoming one of the premiere haut luxe cabinetmakers of the late nineteenth century. The exceptional quality of Zwiener’s craftsmanship and extensive usage of fine gilt-bronze invites comparisons to the work of famed ébéniste, François Linke (1855-1946). Working in several styles fashionable in Paris at the time, Zwiener copied mainly Louis XV pieces from public collections, adapting them in his own exuberant interpretation of rococo. At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, he received the gold medal and a note of high praise from the jurists: ‘dès ses débuts d'une Exposition universelle, [il] s'est mis au premier rang par la richesse, la hardiesse et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronzes et fort habilement marquetés.’ In 1895, Zwiener was summoned to Berlin at the request of German Emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941) at Schloss Neues Palais, Sans Souci, Potsdam. Zwiener was recorded as an exhibitor for the German Pavillion at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.