Within the forthcoming Design For Living auction, on 17th May, we offer Property from a private collection of European Decorative Arts, featuring significant Louis XVI furniture and furniture in the style of Louis XVI dating from the 19th century to the 20th century.
Read Part II of our article:
—————————————-
In contrast to designs from the previous reign, various small, neat tables were popular in the Louis XVI period, among these was the writing table, along with playing card tables and dressing tables. Lot 56, from the Design For Living auction, a Louis XVI style table à écrire, by Paul Sormani, dates from the late 19th centnury. The ébéniste Paul Sormani (1817-77) was originally from Lombardy-Venetia and he set up his Paris workshop in 1847, from here he soon produced high quality meubles de luxe in Louis XV and Louis XVI styles which were snapped up by the aristocracy and importantly by Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who decorated her palaces extensively with Sormani’s delectable furniture. Under Napoleon’s rule Paris underwent a major programme of restoration masterminded by Georges-Eugène Haussmann – significant new buildings such as the Palais Garnier, home to Paris’ Opera, and St Augustine church were built and designed for positions where they would act as the focal point on a new avenue, specifically to draw the eye in even when seen from a great distance. These important buildings invariably borrowed from a wide range of architectural styles.
Furniture was likewise eclectic in its form, Eugénie herself favoured neo-classicism, and her focus was to significantly affect Second Empire designs which saw the re-emergence of earlier elements such as flower baskets and ribbons. Lot 158, a late 19th century French Louis XVI style mahogany table de milieu is applied with gilt bronze mounts, its frieze drawer mounted with a central tablet of an Apollo mask flanked by seated chimera and foliate scroll work, with riband tied floral swags and drapery swags to its corners.
The Empress adored Marie-Antoinette, her tragic life obsessed Eugénie throughout her own reign and she closely followed in Marie-Antoinette’s footsteps – she lived in the same palaces, the Trianon, at Versailles, was her preferred residence and she surrounded herself with furniture and objects previously owned by the Queen. She is pictured here in an oil on canvas portrait from 1854 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873), the work depicts the Empress in a Second Empire adaptation of an eighteenth-century gown, redolent of the style of dress wore at costume balls which were to become synonymous with the regime.
In the following year, 1855, Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie entertained another 19th century influencer, Queen Victoria. In August, Victoria and her entourage travelled to Paris to attend the Exposition Universelle; the highlight of the state visit was a reception held at Versailles. Naturally, it was a highly glamorous and finely orchestrated event – the Marble Courtyard, the Hall of Mirrors and the Royal Opera House aglow with the light from gas lamps and decked in vast flower arrangements. Eugénie was inspired by an 18th century print, ‘Une fete sous Louis Quinze’ which shaped the evening’s themes and decoration. Over 1,000 guests attended the ball, which culminated in a magnificent firework display, and went on into the small hours. Victoria wrote in her journal that it was one of the most beautiful and majestic evenings she had ever attended. Her own aesthetic preference tended to the ornate and this would have greatly affected the look of furniture created through the course of her reign although Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan and Rococo designs were also widely seen.
Into the mid and later 20th century, interior decorating assumed a new confidence and freedom – rather than slavishly creating shrines to a specific era or designer professionals and enthusiasts alike picked from an incredibly broad range of furniture, objects and fabrics sourced from around the world. One such high profile advocate of this approach was long time New York resident Gloria Vanderbilt (1924-2019). She created whimsical interiors, with the maxim ‘Decorating is autobiography’ as her mantra, and she loved to mix up styles, patterns and colour – as she describes and can be seen on her Instagram account: @gloriavanderbilt, which is still available for viewing. In the spirit of Gloria’s tactics, Lot 149, a pair of 19th century Louis XVI style satinwood and mahogany pedestals, sleek and sumptuous, would make a remarkable addition to a wide range of spaces: to display treasured objects, or to frame either side of a doorway, for example, and, usefully, with restrained, harmonious dimensions.
Read Part I of our article here
Property from a private collection of European Decorative Arts
Design For Living, 17th May 2022, 2pm
View the full online Design For Living catalogue here | Browse the page-turning catalogue on issuu.com
For all auction enquiries: +44 (0)207 281 2790 | info@thepedestal.com