A PAIR OF FRENCH `JAPONISME' GILT AND PATINATED-BRONZE THREE-LIGHT WALL APPLIQUES

Though beginning his career as a painter and illustrator, Edouard Lièvre (d. 1886) was perhaps best known as a leading exponent of the French Japonisme movement. He received great acclaim as a designer of applied arts and his work was repeatedly exhibited at the major international exhibitions of the 19th century. Similar stylized dragons dated 1875 were featured on his 'Aquarium Jaiponisant,' illustrated in Connaissance des Arts, Hors-série no. 228, Paris 2004, p. 31. A pair of wall lights of the same model in ormolu sold Christie's South Kensington, London, 26 October 2011, lot 1340 (£10,000).