Description:

An Extraordinary Fine Palatial Louis XV Tulipwood Marquetry and Finely Chased Gilt-Bronze Mounted Regulator by Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener, Circa: Paris, 1880-1890. Stamped with the initial "Z" in various places. Circa: 1860

Height: 11 feet 8 inches (355.6 cm)
Width: 36 inches (91.4 cm) Depth: 20 inches (50.8 cm)

REF: 534

An Extraordinary Fine Palatial Louis XV Tulipwood Marquetry and Finely Chased Gilt-Bronze Mounted Regulator by Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener, Circa: Paris, 1860. Stamped with the initial "Z" in various places.

Born in Herdon, Germany, in 1849, Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener followed the tradition of some of the best ébnistes of the nineteenth century. He moved to Paris establishing a workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, between 1880 and 1895. He produced a wide array of the very finest furniture, modelling in his own interpretations of the eighteenth century Louis XV Rococo style, veneered with the highest and finest quality marquetry and 'Vernis Martin' panels. Exhibiting at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1889, Zwiener was awarded a gold medal for what the jury reported as 'dè ses dèbuts à une Exposition Universelle, [il] s'est mi au premier rang par la richesse, la hardinesse, et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronze et fort habilment marquetés.'

A Group of furniture by Zwiener commissioned by Freidrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle, Paris in 1900, was sold at Sotheby's New York June 29th, 1989, lot 270-275.

Zwiener was closely associated with François Linke, and the two houses produced work which, at first glance, is remarkably similar and with occasionally identical mounts. The similarities are made more likely by the fact that the brilliant sculptor, Léon Messagé, worked initially for Zwiener and subsequently, upon Zwiener's departure for Berlin to work on furniture commissioned by Freidrich Wilhelm II , he was employed in the workshop of François Linke.

It appears that Zwiener, unlike Linke, did not sign all his work, although some stamped pieces with his name and/or his "Z" initial are documented. There is some uncertainty between the recorded stamp E. Zwiener and the work of a Julius Zwiener, a Berlin cabinetmaker who made furniture in a very similar style, most notably for the above mentioned Freidrich Wilhelm II. Research suggests however, that the German born Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener, based in Paris from 1880-1895 and Julius Zwiener, recorded in Berlin after 1895, are probably one and the same. Since the eighteenth century, it had been a common practice for foreign cabinetmakers to gallicise their names whenever they worked in France.

This Regulator closely relates to a Zwiener jewellery cabinet exhibited in 1889 Paris Universelle Exposition and sold at Christie's East, November 2, 1989, sale 6901 lot 265. Comparisons can be seen in the form of the case with identical gilt-bronze foliate scrolled molding, each surmounted by a large allegorical figure of Abundance, figures of cupid fashioning a crown flanked by a girl wearing Cupid's helmet and studying the order of architecture and a concave mount with a rocaille centering a dolphin.

The allegorical mounts of cupid hammering a crown and a girl wearing Cupid's helmet can be seen on a lot, a cabinet by Zwiener , of Sotheby's Belle Epóque sale, property of a private foundation, London, September 27, 1991 lot 56 and on the Linke regulator from the Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle sold in 1999 in the Provot Auction Gallery in Paris, March 26, 1999.

The use of these identical mounts on both Linke and Zwiener's work is indicative of Léon Messagé influence on both.

Payne, Christopher, 19th Century European Furniture, 42. Ledoux-Lebard, Denise, Les Ébénistes du XIX Siècle, 645-648. Jan's & Company wishes to thank Mr. Christopher Payne for his assistance in the research of this Regulator.
Circa: 1860