Style Napoleon III / Ref.1374
Flamboyant mahogany mantel from the ocean liner Armand Behic
Dimensions
Width 65'' ¾ 167cm
Height 88'' ⅝ 225cm
Depth: 20'' ½ 52cm
Inner width: 46'' ½ 118cm
Inner height: 43'' ¼ 110cm
Origin:
1890-1891, Dining hall of the Armand Behic
Status:
Perfect condition
The double volute console jambs with carved curls of foliage and shells support an entablature adorned with a large central upside down shell flanked with foliage and flowers upon a lattice work checked with quatrefoils. Above the mantel shelf rises an elaborately decorated trumeau with a pair of winged female sphinxes sitting upon an oxbow shaped pediment on either side of a large central clock enclosed in a shell shaped medallion. They hold in their claws lush garlands of flowers and fruit that fall generously down towards the mantel.
The sculptor focused his attention on the pair of Sphinxes - female sphinx- who have slightly differing features, very expressive faces and remarkable details: hair, banners, wings and garlands. The décor is treated with great refinement and elegance with shells echoing each other across the entablature, the oxbow, the top of the clock, giving coherence to the composition. The wood paneling and the cast iron insert share a sculpted curlicue décor of flowers and shells.
The remarkable quality of the sculpture and their arrangement makes this mantel an extraordinary piece.
The mantel was designed for the dining hall of the Armand Behic ocean liner, launched on April 26th 1891 in La Ciotat. She was named in honour of Armand Behic (1809-1891), Agriculture, Commerce and Public Utility minister of Napoleon III and founder of the company. Until 1903, she sailed the Australian and New Caledonian line. Paul Gauguin travelled back to France with her in 1893.
She was then assigned to the far Eastern line and later to the Mediterranean. In 1915, she participated in the landing of the French troupes at Cap Helles, and was the only one of her kind to survive the 1st World War. She was destroyed in 1924.
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