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A four-armed chandelier with curved arms in black-patinated bronze, partially gilded and silvered, attached to an openwork crown featuring finely chiseled stylized solar motifs, in the style of a balustrade. At the end of each arm is a faceted, curved element imitating the roof of a pagoda. In the center is a porcelain bowl imitating Chinese cloisonné enamel: stylized flower and butterfly motifs outlined by brown bands stand out against a turquoise-blue background. The base of each arm is topped by a small, silver-plated figurine in the round carrying a basket, inspired by Buddhist statuary.
In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Franco-British troops ransacked the former Summer Palace of the Chinese emperors (Yuánmíng Yuán). Many of the looted objects from this building were brought back to Europe and sold at auction at the brand-new Hôtel Drouot (founded in 1852) in Paris and at Christie’s in London. Some became part of the imperial collections, thus giving rise to Empress Eugénie’s Chinese Museum.
Although China and Western Europe had maintained commercial and artistic ties dating back to the 16th century—ties that were strengthened by the founding of the East India Companies in the 17th and 18th centuries—Chinese exports to the European market had, until then, consisted primarily of lacquerware and porcelain. The mass arrival of vases, lidded pots, and other metal objects covered with cloisonné enamel gave new impetus to the “Chinoiserie” trend. Nineteenth-century artists, however, did not seek to create copies of these objects but instead offered composite reinterpretations that blended references to Chinese and Japanese art, in keeping with the eclectic taste of their time.
Bibliographie
SAMOYAULT-VERLET Colombe, DESROCHES Jean-Paul, BEGUIN Gilles (et al.), Le musée chinois de l'impératrice Eugénie, Fontainebleau, Musée national du Château de Fontainebleau, 1994.
QUETTE Béatrice (dir.), Cloisonné, Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, cat. exp. New York, Bard Graduate Center, 2011, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2011.
