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The bold shape and virtuoso bronzes of this Louis XV-style cartonnier powerfully evoke the craftsmanship of the late 19th-century’s greatest cabinetmakers, François Linke and Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener.
Late 19th century. Louis XV-style cartonnier and clock with two doors simulating curtains, four leather-covered drawers, veneering in tulip wood, bloodwood and stained wood, decorated with friezing and ray marquetry, chased gilt bronzes, movement signed "Vincenti Médaille d’argent 1855", 200 x 102 x 44 cm (78.7 x 40.15 x 17.32 in).
Estimate: €25,000/30,000
this impressive filing cabinet illustrates the best that the eclecticism of the second half of the 19th century had to offer. the furniture of this period was sometimes bulky, overloaded with decoration or quirky, but it could also be refined and audacious. The fashion for pastiche began in 1820 with the Duchesse de Berry's taste for the Gothic style, and went hand in hand with the desire of Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III to rally around history and national traditions. "Neo" trends caught on, particularly the Louis XV style. Refined and elegant, it allowed leading cabinetmakers to let their imaginations run wild while maintaining the high standards of their trade.
Linke, Zwiener, Dasson and Beurdeley made furniture of great technical skill and left no decorative detail to chance. They worked with highly talented sculptors, such as Léon Messagé (1842-1901), who may have made the bronzes of this cartonnier (an early form of a filing cabinet). the lower crossbar is decorated with a superb pearl oyster and a waterfall motif, while dolphins frolic and waterfalls gush on the sides. the uprights of the top part feature allegories of War and Peace. Signed by Jean Vincenti, the clock symbolizes a radiant sun, with a lacquered sheet metal dial, Roman numerals and chased gilt hands in dragon form flanked by angels’ heads, clouds, foliage and a sickle.
In around 1885, Léon Messagé collaborated with both Zwiener and Linke, first in his Rue de Rivoli workshop, then at 40 Rue Sedaine, in Paris. As an independent craftsman, he was sought out for his sculpture models for furniture and his ornamental bronzes. He specialized in an asymmetrical Rococo-style that never failed to impress.
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