A pair of French 'japonisme' parcel-gilt and patinated bronze gueridons, the design attributed to Edouard Lièvre, Paris, circa 1870-80

The Collection of Robert Polo;

Christie's London, 26 Jan 2022, Au Bord Du Lac: An Interior by François-Joseph Graf, lot 5.

These imaginative gueridons are typical examples of the radical Parisian style of furniture in the third quarter of the nineteenth century generally known as japonisme. In retrospect it is difficult for us to comprehend how fundamentally European art and aesthetics were changed by the opening up of Japan in the 1860s: after centuries of the ‘sakoku’ policy of highly restricted engagement with foreign countries, the fine and decorative arts of Japan suddenly became far more visible to Europeans at international exhibitions, and were more collectible through a newly established art trade that quickly became a roaring one. In furnishing tastes, the opening-up of Japan was a key driver in the craze for blue-and-white porcelain, which became an essential part of the Aesthetic interior, but furniture made by European designers also absorbed key elements of Japanese design. Nowhere was this more visible than the japonsime of Ferdinand Barbedienne and Edouard Lièvre, whose furniture combined impressive scale, elaborate metalwork and a foreign design idiom that would have been thrillingly exotic to Europeans.

The work of Edouard Lièvre (1829–1886) is now appreciated as some of the best luxury furniture made in France during the nineteenth century, and is characterised not only by high quality but also a creative variation in style. While many of his pieces reference historical styles, such as the splendid bed he designed for the notorious courtesan Valtesse de la Bigne (famously fictionalised as ‘Nana’ by Emile Zola in 1880) that is now in the Musee des Arts Décoratifs (N°inv. 18176), his signature style was clearly japonisme. Typical of Lièvre is the combination of sombre bronze with glamorous gilt bronze as on the present lot, and the similar base for a circular gueridon in Steinitz’s 2014 catalogue Edouard Lièvre (pp. 214-217) further strengthens the attribution of the present lot's design to the master of japonisme.