Style Napoleon III / Ref.1758

Exceptionnal oak mantel by Louis Boileau and Léon Perrey

Dimensions
Width 72'' ½  184cm
Height 46''   117cm
Depth: 28'' ⅜  72cm
Inner width: 42'' ⅞  109cm
Inner height: 33'' ½  85cm

Origin:
1874

Status:
In good condition

This unique antique fireplace was made out of oak by Louis-Charles Boileau, architect, and Leon Auguste Perrey, sculptor. The presence of their signatures on the bases of the jambs certifies this. Bearing great dimensions, the fireplace is the result of an interesting collaboration between both artists. A straight molded frame opens on the hearth and is bordered on either side by two carved putti. Perched on high molded circular bases, they carry a heavy drapery. The quality of the carving is quite rare and is found in the realistic representation of the folds of drapery, the hair of children and their plump bodies.

The architect Louis-Charles Boileau, born in 1837, is known for various designs, the most famous being the Bon Marché shops in the 7th arrondissement, and the Hôtel Lutétia, in the 6th arrondissement. The Bon Marché shops, owned by Aristide Boucicaut, were built and expanded from september 1869 by Louis-Charles Boileau, in collaboration with engineer Armand Moisan. Several years later, in 1910, Mme Boucicaut, wanting to easily lodge her clients, asked Boileau to build a prestigious hotel not far from Bon Marché, Hôtel Lutétia, still today, one of the palaces of the capital. Léon Perrey, sculptor, working in Salons in the 1870s and 1880s. His first exceptional piece of work was the carved ornament he made for François Pinet's house, situated at 44 rue de Paradis, and built in 1864. In 1873, he is asked by Aristide Boucicaut to make sculptures for his house in Orne. It is one year after, thus in 1874, that Boileau and Perrey wotk together to make this beautiful fireplace with Putti feature. It is more than likely that the men met each other through Boucicaut. This fireplace is one of the first works' of these two men. In fact, fifteen years later, in 1890, they once again work together to build a monument in memory of Mme Boucicaut, who died in 1887. This momunment, an obelsik, surmounted on a Hermes statue, was inaugurated on the 24th august 1890 in Verjux in Saône-et-Loire.

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