Style Neo-Renaissance / Ref.03346

Henri-Auguste FOURDINOIS (1830-1907) - Neo-Renaissance style table decorated with chimeras

Sculpted with virtuosity in the Neo-Renaissance style, this exceptional table shows a great mastery of composition and ornamental vocabulary, demonstrating Henri-Auguste Fourdinois's knowledge of the works from the past, which he knows how to renew into creations of a dazzling stylistic syncretism and an extraordinary quality of execution.
All the ornamentation contributes to highlight, in a brilliant illustration, a decorative vocabulary inspired by the greatest masters of the Renaissance. Indeed, from the years 1835-1840, some ornemanists, like Chenavard, favor the taste for the Renaissance style in the decorative arts. The restoration of the Chateau of Blois throughout the Second Empire nourished this enthusiasm in a new fashion that allows to somewhat renew the decorative vocabulary. Four chimeras thus support the shelf with their wings, the belt of which is delicately carved with gadroons and a fleur-de-lis in the center. Their slender bodies, their fine facial features and the elegance of their wings remind us of the extraordinary sphinxes of the Fourdinois cabinet presented at the World's Fair of 1867 , now preserved at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. Dressed in elegant pearl tiaras, their flowing hair is treated differently, creating a stylistic harmony that avoids the repetition of a motif and allows Fourdinois to put into practice all his genius as a sculptor.
On the sides of the table, a rich Renaissance style decoration reinforces the exceptional character of this piece of furniture: cut leathers, festoons, feather, fruits and leaves are here the work of a master whose skilful hand shapes every detail, for the service of an exceptional ornamentation.