A.E. Beurdeley

Important chandelier “aux Termes” by A.-E. Beurdeley France Circa 1880 Signed BY Patinated and gilded bronze Height : 124 cm (48,8 in.) ; Diam. : 73 cm (28,7 in.) Magnificent chandelier in chiseled, gilded and patinated bronze, with twelve lights. The shaft consists of an ovoid-shaped vase in blued patinated bronze adorned on its belly with frieze and leaves scrolls in gilded bronze, surmounted by a twisted fluted column ending with flowers and a seed. Three female figures ending in acanthus each hold four delicately leafed light-arms. The whole is suspended by three « antique » link chains. The delicacy of the carving of the gilded bronze illustrating the culmination of the neo-classical decorative repertoire at the end of the 18th Century makes this chandelier a high-quality work, Beurdeley being able to pay tribute to the original model with a prestigious provenance. Related work Chandelier in gilded and blued bronze, attributed to François Rémond (1747-1812), End of the 18th Century. Given in 1808 by Napoléon to Cambacérès for his Parisian house, the actual hôtel de Roquelaure. Exposed in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (Inv. CAM 146) (see photo attached) Biography : In 1875, Alfred-Emmanuel Beurdeley (1847-1919) was at first assistant to and later succeeded his father Louis-Auguste Beurdeley, one of the main cabinet-makers of the Second Empire, specialising in XVIIIth century furniture. Louis-Auguste was the star whenever he exhibited and was “most favored by the royal and imperial families”. Although he produced the same kind of works of art as his father, Alfred Beurdeley was also a very well-known art collector and a skilled bronze sculptor. With Dasson, Grohé, Sauvresy and Fourdinois, the most famous artists of the period, he took part in the 1878 Universal Exhibition and won the gold medal. Crowned with glory he went so far as to open a shop in New York. His participation in the 1883 Amsterdam Universal Exhibition drew considerable attention to his work and “Alfred Beurdeley, Fabricant de bronzes d’art” was then awarded the Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur, France’s hightest official mark of recognition. He thus won the respect of both the government and contemporary art critics. His last presentation was during the 1889 Universal and International Exhibition, when the director of the Exhibition wrote in his report : “The talent of Mr Beurdeley is self evident when one inspects his furniture.” François Rémond (1747-1812) began his apprenticeship in 1763. In 1774, he became maître in the guild of bronze guilders. He worked for the mercant-mercer Daguerre et created worked in the Turkish style then in vogue or Louis XVI and his family. He collaborated with the chaser Pierre Gouthière on some of his greatest masterpieces before 1783, and designed bronze ornaments for the cabinet-maker Jean-Henri Riesener. In August 1774, he met the cabinet-maker David Roentgen and began a collaboration with him : most of Roentgen pieces were decorated with bronzes made in Paris by Rémond with sometimes sculptures by artists such as Louis-Simon Boizot.