Joseph-Émmanuel Zwiener fl. circa 1875-1900 A gilt-bronze mounted kingwood heart shaped display table, Paris, last quarter 19th century

fitted with bevelled glass to sides and top, one mount has been removed to reveal the mark ZN from the bronze master model

Camille Mestdagh, L'Ameublement d'Art Français:  1850-1900, Paris, 2010, p.p. 302-303 

Zwiener’s work is remarkable for its organic, sculptural quality. He often demonstrates a tendency toward the principles of combining the traditional Louis XV Rococo style of the 18th century with the ultra-modern, contemporary Art Nouveau, representing a careful balance between decorative and compositional vocabulary, the stylish and the functional. 

Born in Herdon, Germany in 1849, Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener 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 19th 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). Zwiener almost certainly employed Linke, who was six years younger and a fellow German-speaker. Both cabinetmakers used mounts by the gifted sculptor, Léon Messagé, whose studio on the rue Sedaine was in close proximity to the Zwiener workshops and Linke's at 170, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. It is likely that Zwiener introduced Linke to Messagé's work.  

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: 'dés 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.' ('For a first-time exhibitor at a World Fair, [ZWIENER] stood amongst the first base upon his boldness, richness and the final execution of his gilt-bronze-mounted creations, skillfully veneered with elaborate marquetry.')

In 1895, Zwiener was summoned to Berlin at the request of German emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941) at Schloss Neues Palais, Sans Souci, Potsdam. Among the works the Kaiser would commission was a gilt-bronze mounted tulipwood marquetry kingwood bedstead, circa 1895, with gilt-bronze work attributed not to Messagé as in the present lot but to Otto Rohloff. This piece was exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900 [see: L’ Exposition de Paris (1900), Encyclopedie du Siècle, Montgredien et Cie, Paris, Vol III, p. 288] and, as previously stated, was later sold in these rooms in 1989. As noted in the brochure published by the curators of the Stately Castles and Gardens in Berlin, which acquired the Kaiser Wilhelm II commissioned Zwiener suite at auction from Sotheby’s in 1989, 'The works of … Zwiener represent a real highlight, even in comparison to his Parisian competitors. They, after a long period of rejection, are now achieving great interest with this growing recognition being reflected in auction results.'