REF NO : B76556

Maison Beurdeley

A Fine Pair of Louis XVI Style Gilt and Patinated Bronze Four-Light Wall-Appliques

France, Circa 1880

£38,000

A Fine Pair of Louis XVI Style Gilt and Patinated Bronze Four-Light Wall-Appliques By Emmanuel-Alfred (dit Alfred II) Beurdeley, Paris. Each modelled...

Dimensions

Height: 63 cm (25 in)
Width: 42 cm (17 in)
Depth: 20 cm (8 in)
REF NO : B76556

Description

A Fine Pair of Louis XVI Style Gilt and Patinated Bronze Four-Light Wall-Appliques
By Emmanuel-Alfred (dit Alfred II) Beurdeley, Paris.

Each modelled with a bare-breaded classical robed figure flanked by two pairs of scrolling branches. The figure standing on a bracket against vine-wrapped thyrsus with foliate trails below.

Stamped to the reverse ‘BY’

France, Circa 1880.

A pair of wall-lights of this model are recorded in situ in an old photograph of the petit salon of the Beurdeley residence at rue de Clichy in Paris. A pair are also recorded in the first Beurdeley sale in 6-9 May 1895, lot 162 described as ‘Paire d’appliques de style Louis XVI, en bronze doré il quatre bras porte-lumières avec rinceaux lt têtes d’aigle soutenus par des statuettes de femme en bronze p.itiné adossées contre un thyrse et placées sur des culs-de-lampe que terminent des grappes de raisin’.

These beautifully detailed wall-appliques are designed in the Louis XVI goût Grec style and are a variation, with four-branches as opposed to two, of a pair formerly in the Demidoff collection at San Donato, sold at auction in 1880 and now at the Detroit Institute of Arts (as illustrated in H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 291, fig. 4.16.12). The figures of caryatids draped in the antique style are inspired by the one adorning a pair of candelabras attributed to the bronzer François Rémond (1747-1812).

Date

Circa 1880

Origin

France

Medium

Gilt & Patinated Bronze

Signature

Stamped to the reverse ‘BY’

Maison Beurdeley
Portrait of Emmanuel-Alfred (dit Alfred II) Beurdeley (1847-1919)

Emmanuel-Alfred (dit Alfred II) Beurdeley (1847-1919)

The Beurdeley family were a flourishing dynasty of three generations of fine quality cabinetmakers working from 1818 to 1895. The firm was particularly well known for its exceptional metalwork, most commonly basing their designs on important eighteenth century examples. Their mercurial gilding and hand chasing are often of such a high standard that it is difficult to distinguish them from late eighteenth century work.

The founder of the dynasty Jean Beurdeley (1772-1853) was a Burgundian craftsman conscripted into the Napoleonic army. After hostilities ended in 1815 he settled in Paris opening a shop for curiosités and working as a latter day marchand mercier. Initially based on the rue Saint-Honoré, in 1840 Beurdeley moved to the famous Hanover Pavilion situated on the corner of rue Louis-Legrand and boulevard des Italiens, and the business was run by his only surviving son, Louis-Auguste-Alfred (1808-1882). This successful business, which had numerous official commissions including in 1853 the marriage coffer for the Empress Eugénie, was continued by Louis’ son, Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis (1847-1919).

The business continued in its traditional style with very few variations until 1895. Alfred, along with the most famous artists of the period, took part in the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle where he won the gold medal. Following on from this glory, he went on to open a shop in New York.

His participation in the 1883 Amsterdam Universal Exhibition drew even further attention to his work, and possibly as a result he was awarded the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest official mark of recognition.

The incredible quality of each generation’s work ranked the firm of Beurdeley as pre-eminent amongst Parisian makers of meubles de luxe.

Bibliography:
Ledoux – Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 75-82.

Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’Art Français, 1850-1900, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 2010; pp.262-276.

Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 1984 ; pps. 175, 247, 269, 270, 290, 298.

Provenance

Collection Pierre Lecoules, Paris.

Literature

This pair are illustrated in C. Mestdagh, L’Ameublement d’art français 1850-1900, Les éditions de l’Amateur, Paris, 2010, p. 263 (fig. 308).

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