Ref.11674
Napoleon III style overmantel pierglass with carved decoration of a garland of fruits

Napoleon III style overmantel pierglass, 19th century, with bevelled mirror framed by a garland of partially painted fruits.

Ref.15047
Armand POINT, Preparatory drawing for the painting Young Woman with the Green Toque, 1905

This portrait of a woman in red chalk was executed by Armand Point in 1905. A lover of Italy from 1893 onwards, Armand Point (1861-1932) was notably influenced by the Florentine Primitives and the masters of the Italian Renaissance. This work is a testament to that influence. It is the preparatory drawing for one of his paintings, Young Woman with the Green Toque. The model is the artist’s second wife, Helga Weeke, with whom he traveled to Venice for the second time in 1905. In the background, one can distinguish a campanile, perhaps that of the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, and the silhouette of a Venetian palace with precisely described architecture, behind the canal where a canoe is navigating. On the right, a garden adorned with a fountain. The softness of the woman’s features and the serenity of her expression echo another red chalk drawing of Helga, characterized by its pronounced sensuality.

Ref.13767
Gabriel VIARDOT (attributed to), Japanese-Style Display Cabinet and Wardrobe, late 19th century

This dual-purpose piece of furniture, serving both as a display cabinet and a wardrobe, was made by Gabriel Viardot in the late 19th century. A talented wood sculptor, Gabriel Viardot opened a furniture workshop and store in Paris in 1853. In the 1870s, he decided to specialize in “Chinese-Japanese style furniture”. He received prestigious awards at the World’s Fairs in 1878, 1889, and 1900 in Paris, as well as a gold medal at the 1884 Antwerp International Exhibition. The asymmetry of the two sections of this piece, as well as its decoration, place it within Viardot’s Sino-Japanese-style production. Its feet are curved inward, a characteristic often found in Japanese furniture. The crosspieces are adorned with East Asian motifs. The right side of the piece displays particularly Japonist decoration. At the bottom, a menacing dragon seems to slither through the furniture panel - a signature motif in Viardot’s work. At the top, the door is decorated with a beautiful Japanese panel from the Meiji era (1868-1912). It combines an exquisitely detailed Japanese still life with engraved and gilded Japanese characters. This representation is typical of Japanese art from this period. The small sides are carved with vegetal motifs in low relief. The lock is marked with two stamps. Hilbrunner, a furniture lock maker active in the late 19th and early 20th century, was a regular supplier to Viardot. Gabriel Viardot designed another wardrobe combined with a small presentation cabinet, known through an old drawing. This drawing shows that the tiered tops of the furniture were intended by Viardot to serve as display platforms.

Ref.11700
Louis MALARD, Unique “Ramses-Style” Bedroom in Walnut With Gold Leaf Embellishment, 1889 World’s Fair

H. 271 cm / 106” 11/16; W. 260 cm / 102” 3/8; D. 232 cm / 91” 5/16 (bed without canopy) H. 74 cm / 29” 1/8; W. 231 cm / 90” 15/16; D. 148 cm / 58” 1/4 (canopy) H. 73 cm / 28” 3/4; W. 212 cm / 83” 7/16; D. 74 cm / 29” 1/8 (bench) H. 101 cm / 39” 3/4; W. 45 cm / 17” 3/4; D. 42 cm / 16” 9/16 (chairs) This extraordinary neo-Egyptian set bedroom crafted in carved solid walnut and enhanced with gold leaves (yellow, green, and red), was created by Louis Malard for display at the 1889 Paris Exhibition, where it earned him a silver medal. The cabinetmaker Louis Malard operated a workshop and furniture store located at 9 bis, rue Maubeuge in Paris. The establishment produced and sold furniture in various styles, particularly historical ones. It exhibited different furniture ensembles at the 1889 and 1900 World’s Fairs. Various reports and advertisements published in Le Figaro allow us to date his activity to between 1886 and 1903. The centerpiece of this bedroom set is the bed. While it does not resemble Egyptian beds as depicted in archaeological findings from the 19th century, it incorporates the architectural and artistic codes of ancient Egyptian art to create a monumental, unique work that aligns with the requirements of modern comfort. The canopy is adorned with an Egyptian temple pylon at its center, flanked by vultures with outstretched wings – symbols of the goddess Nekhbet – and lotus flowers. The headboard features sphinx figures, various hieroglyphs, and scenes inspired by ancient monuments, including Ramses II on his chariot at the Battle of Kadesh (circa 1274 B.C.E.). The artist drew inspiration for this from a low-relief in the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, as documented by Jean-François Champollion in his work Monuments de l’Égypte et de la Nubie (Monuments of Egypt and Nubia). On either side of the headboard, the bedside tables are decorated with life-size seated figures whose poses mimic the monumental statues of ancient Egypt. Their garments reflect the iconographic codes of feminine fashion visible in the low-reliefs of ancient art. The foot of the bed is guarded by two lion-sphinxes in a hieratic posture, while the frame combines hieroglyphic signs, worshipper figures, and representations of the god Anubis. The bed is accompanied by a bench whose decoration mirrors that of the bed frame, along with the motif of sphinxes, and a pair of chairs adorned with scarabs – sacred animals to the Egyptians symbolizing the god Khepri, the rising sun. The presentation of this bedroom furniture at the 1889 Paris Exhibition was a resounding success: in addition to the silver medal awarded to its creator, it received widespread critical acclaim, including a highly favorable article in Le Figaro. It also achieved commercial success, being purchased by Countess Bathilde Ducos (1851-1927), daughter of a former Minister of the Navy under Emperor Napoleon III. It was sold as part of a theatrical yet less elaborate furniture ensemble forming a bedroom: a wardrobe, a fireplace, and a pair of draperies. This bedroom set was auctioned in 1896, probably to Charles Henri Duquesne, whose family kept it until 2019, when it was acquired by the Galerie Marc Maison. Today, this bed serves as a reminder of the fascination that 19th century artists and their contemporaries had for ancient Egyptian art, which inspired rich creations and reinterpretations. Literature: Le Figaro, July 1, 1889, 35th year, 3rd series, no. 182, p. 2, in the “Courrier de l’Expostion” section. Charles Oudart (dir.), Gazette de l’hôtel Drouot, Saturday, June 30, Sunday, June 31, and Monday, June 1, 1896. Jean-François Champollion, Monuments de l’Égypte et de la Nubie…, volume I, Paris, Firmin Didot Frères, 1835, plate XIII.