Style Renaissance / Ref.17262

LIEVRE Edouard, Rare Néo-Renaissance Cabinet

Designed by Edouard Lièvre, this neo-Renaissance style cabinet is a masterpiece of major importance that adds to our knowledge of the limited output of this artist. Sold at auction after the death of this famous cabinetmaker, this piece was described in detail in the catalogue entitled Furniture in the 16th Century Style: “the architecture and decoration of this piece of furniture, inspired by the Florentine Renaissance, assure it a special place in the decorative arts”. The cabinet, lot no. 3 of the sale, was purchased by a certain Allard, most likely Jules Allard, the renowned Parisian cabinetmaker of the second half of the 19th century.
The pediment is decorated with a cartouche in the form of a scroll, taken from the decorative vocabulary used at Fontainebleau at the time of the Renaissance. On the back, “EL” has been stamped, the cipher used by Edouard Lièvre. Born in Meurthe-et-Moselle, he first made a name for himself as a designer of models for a foundry in the Meuse Department, and later set up in Paris as a lithographic designer. An astute connoisseur of the great public and private collections, he published numerous works, illustrated with engravings, in order to make the masterpieces conserved in museums better known, and also to promote a greater knowledge of period styles. This activity served to reinforce his acute sense of observation, stimulate his creative tastes and, from about 1870-1875, allowed him to successfully reinterpret the sources of inspiration that benefited him as a designer of furniture and objects. In this respect, this cabinet is an exceptional and rare surviving example of his work. The lower part of the cabinet, in the shape of an arcade, conceals two doors, while four columns in “rouge antique” marble support the upper part of the cabinet that opens with two doors. This is surrounded by niches that house two statuettes representing Venus and Apollo.


   
    This cabinet is richly adorned with bronzes of great virtuosity. The small marble columns are ornamented with garlands and rings that are crowned with capitals of acanthus leaves whose whorls end in dolphins. On the upper part of the cabinet, an antique shield stands out from the base of the statuettes; these, in turn, are supported by masques representing Silenus and garlands of fruit. The inner part of the niches and the front are ornamented with a suspended trophy made of a lion’s mask, antique shields and helmets inspired by Renaissance motifs. The doors, the body of the pilasters, the center drawers and the frieze are decorated with bronze arabesques that are chased like fine embroidery. The interior is decorated in a sober manner and comprises several drawers organized around a door ornamented with a bronze bas-relief representing the Holy Family. On the inside of the doors, the artist has shown his virtuosity by making use of the wood veining to best set off the bronze reliefs.

    In the sale that took place after Lièvre’s death, the catalogue mentions that “in the middle there is a place reserved to house an object like the statuette catalogued in the following lot”, that is to say, a “patinated bronze statuette with antique gold finish: The Thinker, after Michelangelo”. The ensemble that we present has thus been reconstructed according to these indications. The statuette called The Thinker in the sales catalogue seems to refer to Michelangelo’s effigy of Lorenzo de Medici for his tomb in the Basilica San Lorenzo, made in Florence around 1530. This bronze statuette adds to the neo-Renaissance character of this cabinet.
    
    Edouard Lièvre was a renowned designer who was inspired by the ornaments of the 16th century and who knew how to reinterpret them to create this masterpiece of neo-Renaissance furniture. He drew his inspiration from the Florentine decorative arts so that he could invent a new type of ornamentation that is skillfully composed and perfectly balanced.

Bibliography:
Catalogue des meubles d'art en bois sculpté et ornés de bronzes (..) œuvres décoratives d'Edouard Lièvre (..) le tout dépendant de la succession de feu M. Edouard Lièvre, Vente après décès des 21, 22, 23 et 24 mars 1887, lot n° 3.