Ref. 1392/26 and 807

H.Picard

Bronze-caster
(Active from 1831 to 1864)

A Rare Pair of Neo-Pompeian Gueridons

France
Circa 1880

A similar model was exhibited at the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition

Signed PICARD

Height. : 83 cm (32,7 in) ; Diam. : 65,5 cm (25,8 in)

Rare pair of round table made of patinated and gilded bronze with a top veneered with malachite and circled with bronze mounts adorned with ovum and beads. They stands on three patinated bronze feet with lion heads and paws, linked with gilded bronze X braces.

Related Works

The feet of these gueridons adopt a sleek design and are adorned with claws and lion heads. Inspired by a well-known model in the Barbedienne Company production and it has been reused many times by his workshop. These gueridons shows how the Barbedienne Company offered a range of furniture from the designs of its decorator Louis-Constant Sévin. He designed this model of gueridon few time after he joined the Barbedienne Company in 1855 and this model can be seen on different interior decorations of the Second Empire.

Otherwise a picture of the Emperor’s study at Saint-Cloud Castle demonstrates that a gueridon with such feet took place in it ; it illustrates the success of this model in the imperial family.

MAISON POMPEIENNE DU PRINCE NAPOLEON: SALLE FROIDE, 18 AVENUE MONTAIGNE, 8EME ARRONDISSEMENT, PARIS

Guéridon with feet of the same design, in the Pompeian House of Prince Napoleon, Paris (view of the Atrium).

Some years later the Gazette des Beaux-Arts published an engraving depicting a gueridon exhibited at the 1889 Universal Exhibition. The engraving shows a gilt bronze plate resting on a tripod having identical feet and it reveals the longevity of this model inside the Barbedienne Company production. The caption mentions “Bronze plate designed by Mr Levillain and made by Mr Barbedienne (1889 Universal Exhibition)”.

Guéridon with feet of the same design at Saint-Cloud Castle (view of Napoleon III’s study) (reproduced in Des Tuileries à Saint-Cloud, l’art décoratif du Second Empire)

Guéridon, Exposition Universelle, 1889 (reproduced in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, p. 415)

Biography

Henri Picard was established in Paris, 6 rue Jarente from 1831 to 1839 and then 10 rue de la Perle from 1840 to 1864. He worked on the Emperor Napoleon III’s apartments gilding at the Louvre Palace. His production was in a rich and fine style, like a Japanese style inkwell, or his Pompeian style dining table centerpieces.

Bibliography

– Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1er octobre 1889, p. 415.

– Des Tuileries à Saint-Cloud, l’art décoratif du Second Empire, Henri Clouzot, Payot, Paris, 1935.

– « La maison pompéienne du Prince Napoléon avenue Montaigne », Marie-Claude Dejean de la Batie, in La Gazette des Beaux-arts, t. LXXXVII, 1287e livraison, avril 1976, pp. 127-134. fig. 7.