A FRENCH BRONZE-MOUNTED ROSEWOOD VITRINE

This diminutive, though finely executed, vitrine is closely related to a number of iconic designs Edouard Lièvre produced during the third quarter of the 19th century incorporating Japanese and Chinese architectural forms. Though previously unrecorded in a vitrine version, the carcass on this example is nearly identical to a signed 'armoire japonisante' cited in Connaissance des Arts, No. 228, Paris, 2004, p. 11, though fitted with a panelled cupboard door. An unsigned and slightly wider example set with a pair of cupboard doors was also exhibited at Galerie Roxane Rodriguez (Paris, 16 September-16 October 2004) and is additionally illustrated in the exhibition's catalogue raisonné (Edouard Lièvre: Créateur de meuble & objets d'art, Paris, 2004, p. 43).