A Rare and Unusual Matched Pair of Louis XVI Style Wall Vitrines by Zwiener

A Rare and Unusual Matched Pair of Louis XVI Style Wall Vitrines by Zwiener. 

French, Circa 1890.

Signed ‘E. Zwiener’ to the base of the bronze mount to one door.  The reverse of the bronze mounts stamped ‘NZ’.   

This fine matched pair of vitrines each have a domed top with gilt-bronze acanthus mounts, surmounted by an urn issuing flowers.  The shaped front and side panels have curved glass and are framed by exceptional gilt-bronze foliate mounts above a bombe shaped apron with a foliate gilt bronze terminal.  The interior with a mirrored back and two shelves, on scrolled apron. 

Object Literature:

Payne, Christopher. Paris Furniture: The Luxury Market of the 19th Century, Editions Monelle Hayot (Saint-Remy-en-l'Eau), 2018; p. 568.

Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener (1848- 1895) was one of the leading furniture makers of the end of the nineteenth century.  Of German extraction he established a very successful studio in Paris,  producing the very finest furniture, often inspired by the public collections in France.  He employed as his sculptor, Léon Messagé, the genius Parisian sculptor.

Zwieners pieces were acquired by many of the leading collectors of the nineteenth century.  In particular he supplied his interpretation of the famous Bureau du Roi to Ludwig II at Herrenchiemsee, which was placed in the King's study in 1884.  

Zwiener exhibited at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, where he was awarded a gold medal, for a stand which included an exceptional cabinet designed by Messagé (illustrated in Meyer, pl. H14).

In 1898, Zwiener received an extensive Royal commission from the King of Prussia, and was recalled to Berlin as the King would not order furniture from overseas makers when furnishing his palaces, preferring to order work only from native Germans.   The Berlin Sculptor Otto Rohloff, whose bronze work is very similar to that of Messagé, may well have been hired by Zwiener for this Royal commission.

Dimensions

Price on application

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

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