Beschreibung:

PIERRE PHILIPPE THOMIRE (1751-1843) (after) A fine Empire style ormolu and patinated bronze-mounted green granite chimneypiece, ca. 1840-1845. A rectangular green marble shelf above a frieze fitted with affronted griffons at the corners linked by floral garlands, each swag centered by a rosette. This mantle, raised on single-legged sphinxes with olive green patinated bronze busts resting on scrolling acanthus leaves entwined with ormolu serpents and lion heads. During the reign of Napoleon I (1769-1821), the sculptor Pierre-Philippe-Thomire was the leading bronze caster of the First French Empire. He was mainly known for his decorative objects in patinated and gilded bronze. After he bought the furniture workshop of Marin-Eloi Lignereux (1751-1809) in 1804, he became very successful for his furniture fittings. In his workshop, which at its heigh point employed six to seven hundred workers, Thomire also produced many of the bronzes that were installed in imperial residences. An almost identical chimneypiece, stamped by Thomire, was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 03.11.2005, . This New York piece once belonged to Général Le Marois (1776-1836), a trusted ally of Napoleon I (1769-1821). The frieze holds medallions depicting mythological figures instead of rosettes alternating the floral garlands in the present piece for sale in Antwerp. A console table by Thomire of virtually identical overall design can be found in the collection of the Musée du Louvre (inv. OA 9969). It is fitted with an identical ormolu border beneath the top, identical frieze mounts, lacking the circular medallions on the piece sold in New York, and is raised upon identical term figures. The console was placed in the apartments of the ‘Fils de France’ at the Tuileries under the Restoration, then in the grand salon of the Empress at the Chateau de Compiègne under the Second Empire (cf. D. Alcouffe, et al., Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Vol. I, Dijon, 1993, no. 105, pp. 308-309). Another chimneypiece with the same frieze of garlands and atheniennes was delivered by Thomire in 1804 for the salon of Prince Eugène de Beauharnais in his hôtel on the rue de Lille in Paris; this is now the German Embassy. In our opinion the present chimneypiece can be dated around 1840-1845 when aristocratic interiors were decorated in the Empire style during the Louis Phillipe period such as the salon in Hôtel de Serres. A watercolour drawing by François-Etienne Villeret (1800-1866) from 1843 depicts this salon in which we can find an almost identical chimneypiece (cf. Bruno Pons, French Period Rooms 1650-1800, Dijon, Edtions Faton, 1995, p. 417). This room was deliberately furnished in such a way as to give it an Empire style atmosphere. Dimensions: 98 x 185 x 56 cm