Thomas Moore
Head of Department
Lot 33*,TP
A French late 19th century ormolu mounted kingwood and 'bois de bout' (end-cut) marquetry armoire attributed to Joseph-Emanuel Zwiener (1848-1895)
23 June 2021, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £8,925 inc. premium
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A French late 19th century ormolu mounted kingwood and 'bois de bout' (end-cut) marquetry armoire attributed to Joseph-Emanuel Zwiener (1848-1895)
Of bombe serpentine form, with scrolled acanthus, rocaille, floral and shell mounts, the arched shaped and scroll mounted pediment above a pair of twin shaped panel mounted doors, each quarter veneered panel inlaid with entwining flowers and foliage, with similar sides, enclosing one adjustable shelf and two short drawers, the reverse of each door inset with a mirror, over a shaped apron mounted with a central smoke-billowing incense burner or athenienne, terminating in keeled legs and lion paw sabots, the main central mount crowning the pediment appears to be a modern replacement, 149cm wide x 61cm deep x 263cm high, (58 1/2in wide x 24in deep x 103 1/2in high)
Footnotes
A closely comparable armoire to the present lot, one made and stamped by Joseph-Emanuel Zwiener, sold Christie's, South Kensington, 24 February 2009, Style and Spirit, lot 500. A further related Zwiener example, albeit a larger breakfront model dating to circa 1890, is illustrated in J. Meiner, Berliner Belle Epoque, 2014, Petersberg, Abb. 76, p. 71.
Joseph Emanuel Zwiener
Although born in Prussian Silesia (modern day Germany) in 1849, Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener emigrated as a young man to France. He opened his first atelier at 12 rue de la Roquette in Paris in 1880, before establishing a firm in the fashionable Faubourg Saint-Antoine district just two years later. He is noted for an elegant interpretation of Rococo furniture from the Garde-Meuble National of France, and perhaps most celebrated for producing, on commission from Ludwig II, an exceptional copy of the celebrated bureau de Roi originally made by Jean-Henri Riesener and Jean-François Oeben.
Zwiener employed Leon Message (1842-1901) as his gilt bronze sculptor to create the stunning mounts for a great number of his most important pieces. He was among the first cabinetmakers in France to collaborate with Message and they began working together circa 1880. His influence added a distinctly Art Nouveau tone to Zwiener's work and his unique style won Zwiener the gold medal at the 1882 exhibition of the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. There is even a sketch by Message, dated 1871, of espagnolettes with plumed headdresses which are similar to the ones mounted on the present lot.
Zwiener went on to exhibit at the 1889 Paris Exhibition where he was awarded a gold medal and where the jurists commented: 'dès ses débuts d'une Exposition universelle, s'est mis au premier rang par la richesse, la hardiesse et le fini de ses meubles incrustis de bronzes et fort habilement marquetis. In 1895 his workshop was taken over by the important émigré ebeniste, François Linke (1855-1946), who Christopher Payne speculates may have worked under Zwiener when he first arrived in Paris in 1875. Linke is known to have also taken on Zwiener's sculptor Leon Message.
