Louis Majorelle Mahogany and Gilt Bronze "Aux Nénuphars" Vitrine
A rare and important Art Nouveau carved mahogany and gilt-bronze vitrine, known as the "aux nénuphars" vitrine, by Louis Majorelle, this piece offers an extraordinary opportunity to collect a multifaceted example of the great maker's prodigious abilities. The design consists of an inlaid backboard with an intricate marquetry motif, two sinuous, protruding arms with elaborate gilt bronze adornment, three sections of shelving with glass doors. The middle set of shelves is shorter by comparison, and topped with a shelf and similarly features a backboard decorated with the same marquetry motif as is found above. With a period key.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: F-19971
Artist: Louis Majorelle
Country: France
Circa: 1900
Dimensions: 99.25" height, 90" width, 28.25" depth
Materials: Mahogany, Gilt Bronze
Literature: Alastair Duncan, Louis Majorelle: Master of Art Nouveau Design, London, 1991, pp. 103; Alastair Duncan, The Paris Salons 1895-1914, Vol. III: Furniture, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1996, p. 391 (for the model presented at the Exposition de l'École de Nancy)
This piece is a studied balance of the natural and the geometric - Art Nouveau and the Baroque. On one hand decorated with a repeating, geometric shield shaped design, and on the other featuring elongated, dramatic arms protruding and bending as the stalk of a great plant would, the design incorporates both naturalistic lines and stark geometry. Similarly, as the curving lines and intricate inlaid patterning of the piece are strictly Art Nouveau, the luxe gilt bronze accents are a true harkening back to the aesthetic of the Baroque.