Staircase Model, Masterpiece Of Rewarded Companion, Charles Herpin 1889

- Model of a split staircase in walnut, a masterpiece by journeyman carpenter Charles Herpin

- With perfect symmetry, this large split staircase (89 cm high) splitting out a full turn is organized as follows: a straight flight of six steps leading to a first landing, then two flights turning inwards unfold on either side to converge at a second landing which invites you to tread a last straight flight of four steps to reach the second floor. The staircase rests on a chamfered rectangular base.

- It is supported by two slender columns with a square shaft which frame over the entire height of the breakaway each of the two floors superimposed one above the other. These columns are topped with an ornamental ball echoing those that frame the first overflowing step. Marking the beginning and the end of the journey, they underline the technicality required to achieve such a work. Each element is studied with remarkable attention to detail, such as the grooves made on each of the three landings in imitation of parquet. The curved movement of the flights calls out, it imposes itself with disconcerting ease, the interior stringer seems as flexible as a ribbon, making us forget the rigidity of the wood. Also through this book, the challenge of mastery works "to associate the head and the hands to domesticate the material and overcome the technical difficulties without it appearing" takes on its full meaning.

-. These miniature works have the particularity of being works produced by the aspiring companions at the end of their tour of France. Also, they had to highlight their mastery of the trade, their creativity to be recognized by their peers. Technically and aesthetically perfect, each masterpiece is an assiduous quest for perfection. It is a heap of difficulties overcome thanks to an important work of preliminary studies and an intelligence at your fingertips. A privileged tool for contact with reality, the hand then nourishes thought which in turn guides it to transform matter and give substance to ideas conceived by the mind.

- The exceptional quality of execution of this work earned its author, Charles Herpin, a medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. This medal is attached to the work. Charles Herpin would have designed this work as a tribute to the Grand Escalier of the Opéra Garnier built in 1861 which was widely admired for the grandeur of its dimensions and the elegance of its lines and curves. The companion Herpin, through this book, delivers his own interpretation.

- Height: 89 cm (87 cm without the base) Dimensions of the base: 97.5 cm x 64 cm