Bronze-caster (active from 1831 to 1864)

Pair of « Cupids »  jardinières 

Signed H. PICARD

France – Circa 1860

Gilded bronze

Height : 20,5 cm (8 in.) ; Length :  64 cm (25,2 in.)  ; Width : 37 cm (14,5 in.)

A fine pair of oval jardinieres in chiselled and gilded bronze, with inner liners. They are adorned in relief and enhanced by a subtle interplay of burnished and matte finishes, featuring leafy scrolls, asymmetrical volutes, shells, and clasps structuring the composition in a centered symmetrical rhythm. At the center stand out two winged cupids, rendered in the round, entwined in a tender embrace. Their supple modeling, full fleshy forms, rounded facial features, and curly hair reflect a desire for naturalism tempered by academic idealization. A second pair of cupids, arranged as pendants, repeat the same gesture. They surmount a medallion depicting Venus.
The lateral handles, pierced and asymmetrical, unfold into broad vegetal scrolls populated with flowers and foliage, in a distinctly Rocaille spirit. The base, composed of leafy scrollwork resting on small discreet supports, lends the ensemble a visual lightness despite the richness of the decoration.

The decorative vocabulary draws upon the Louis XV style in the dynamism of its lines and the abundance of scrollwork, while the overall composition, strictly axial and balanced, reveals a rationality inherited from Neoclassicism. This synthesis is characteristic of nineteenth-century Parisian bronziers, within the context of the revived taste for the eighteenth century under the Second Empire.

The theme of cupids refers to an iconography of ancient origin, reinterpreted during the Renaissance and widely disseminated in the French decorative arts. A symbol of love, abundance, or domestic felicity, their presence is particularly suited to a jardinière, an object associated with the cultivation of flowers and the ornamentation of bourgeois interiors. Intended to hold floral arrangements, ornamental plants or fruits, theses jardinieres belonged to a type of display furniture, likely conceived for a salon or boudoir. It testifies to the taste for spectacular pieces, both functional and sculptural, that contributed to the staging of domestic luxury.

Biography

Henri Picard (active 1831–1864), gilder and bronzier, established himself in Paris at 6 rue de Jarente from 1831 to 1839, then at 10 rue de la Perle from 1840 to 1864. He carried out the gilding of the Petits Appartements of Napoleon III at the Louvre Palace. He produced a wide variety of works, such as a Japonist inkwell and Pompeian-style centrepieces. Henri Picard earned his reputation for the exceptional quality of his jardinières and fireplace garnitures.

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Bronze-caster (active from 1831 to 1864)
(attributed to)

 « Bacchantes » gueridon

France
Circa 1860

Gilded bronze, Malachite

Height : 80,5 cm (31,7 in.) ; Diameter : 104 cm (40,9 in.)

Rare circular gueridon resting on a tripod base in finely chiseled and gilded bronze, supporting a matched Ural malachite top, circled by a frieze of water leaves and pearls.
The base is composed of three bacchantes executed fully in the round, presented as caryatids and joined together by leafy scrolls and cartouches adorned with mascarons. The figures, with their slender proportions and idealized anatomy, adopt a dynamic posture, their raised arms supporting the band beneath the top.
The triangular base with rounded angles is enriched with neoclassical motifs such as palmettes, gadroons, and acanthus leaves.

Through the exceptional quality of the casting, the finesse of the chasing, and the masterful balance between sculpture and decorative architecture, this gueridon belongs to the tradition of mid-19th-century Parisian state furniture. It may be attributed to the bronze-maker Henri Picard, whose workshop distinguished itself by works of extreme refinement intended for an aristocratic and international clientele, and by a learned reinterpretation of Antique and Renaissance models characteristic of the eclectic taste of the Second Empire.

Biography

Henri Picard (active 1831-1864), gilder and bronzemaker, settled in Paris at 6 rue de Jarente from 1831 to 1839, then at 10 rue de la Perle from 1840 to 1864. He carried out the gilding of the Petits Appartements of Napoleon III at the Louvre Palace. He produced a wide variety of works, such as a Japonist inkwell and Pompeian-style centerpieces. Henri Picard earned his reputation for the exceptional quality of his jardinières and fireplace garnitures.

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Bronze-caster
(active since 1831)
(attributed to)

Large pair of rock crystal girandoles

France
Circa 1860

Height : 105 cm (41,3 in.) ; Diameter : 60 cm (23,6 in.)
Height columns : 115 cm (45,3 in.)

Rock crystal, Gilded bronze

Large pair of Louis XIV style girandoles with twelve light-arms, adorned with five rows of finely cut and faceted rock crystal pendants, topped by a dagger. The whole is supported by a beautiful garniture of gilded and chiseled bronze organized around a baluster shaft, resting on a circular base decorated with godrons and lambrequins.
An indirect lighting system reveals all the brilliance of rock crystal.

They rest on two truncated walnut columns.

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.

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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.

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.

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