Emmanuel-Alfred Beurdeley (1847-1919)

gilt bronze, mahogany, white marble

stamped multiple times ‘A BEURDELEY / A PARIS’ and marked ‘BY’ to reverse of mounts 

Please note that this piece currently located in Hong Kong

Canadian Private Collection

C. Mestdagh, L’Ameublement d’art français 1850-1900, Paris, 2010, p. 17, fig.13.

The international exhibitions of the later nineteenth century were spectacular events that brought together the best of the art and craft of every nation represented. In an era of increasing nationalism and international competition, these glittering showcases had a political edge, since every country was eager to demonstrate its mastery of fine workmanship as well as new innovations and techniques in the arts. The French were no exception, and selected the top artists across all categories to represent them in this important forum and to make it clear to the world that France was still the leader and arbiter of artistic tastes that it had been in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The furniture in these exhibitions was of a luscious splendour and excellent quality and was usually by a top Parisian maker like François Linke or Beurdeley.

This cabinet by Beurdeley is one of his freest and most inventive designs, and was fulsomely praised when it was displayed at the 1878 exhibition. In his collection of essays accompanying the exhibition, Emile Bergerat singles out this cabinet for an extended discussion that is worth quoting in full:

"As for the piece of furniture with rams’ heads in the Delafosse taste (the ‘Transition’ between Louis XV and Louis XVI), there is little need to sing its praises to our readers, since they themselves will grasp the strengths that are particular to this establishment. I noticed that M. Alfred Beurdeley is very moderate in the distribution of his bronze and his chasing. The form never disappears under the ornament and the eye of the spectator is not tormented by superfluous festoons, bunches of grapes and ornamented borders. The marquetry of the central amaranth wood panel is very harmonious in tone, it blends well into the whole, and its decorative motif seemed to me cheerful and spiritually imagined."

Earlier on the same page, he notes that “M. Beurdeley does not copy the old models, as many others do, but he creates in a given style, and, as a rival to the old masters, he creates in the Louis XV style as though he were a contemporary.” This testimony from an art critic of the period demonstrates the nineteenth-century public’s understanding of the nuances between slavish copying and inventive creating based on historical models, and that this cabinet was seen as an excellent example of how to achieve this effect.

The design of this cabinet contains within it numerous different stylistic influences from the history of French furniture, joyfully combined here into something wholly new. The stepped top and the inclusion of triglyph-like structures recalls the neoclassical architecture that was so influential on the Louis XVI style, yet the cabriole legs are the essential identifier of the preceding Louis XV style, bringing some of the curvaceous naturalism of that playful era. As is typical, the marquetry panel mimics a still-life painting in its composition and the items pictured – the inclusion of dice, musical instruments and grapes seem to suggest a theme of revelry. The oak leaves on the apron are an example of a clear innovation, since oak leaves were usually overlooked during the eighteenth century in favour of acanthus leaves and laurels, but had again become popular as a decorative motif by Beurdeley’s era. The hoof feet, too, are rare on eighteenth-century furniture, but may be a subtle joke on Beurdeley’s part: the cabriole leg is thought to have originated as a stylised hind leg of a goat, and the word cabriole (somersault) comes from the Italian dance move capriola, a jump so named after its similarity to the jumping of a goat (capriolo). A variation of this model, decorated in lacquer instead of marquetry and with some minor differences to the mounts, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 19 April 2007, lot 129.