Rivaud, In Paris - Pair Of Living Room Lamps In Sèvres Porcelain And Gilt Bronze. Circa 1850

Maison Henri RIVAUD, Manufacturer of Art Bronzes and Lampmaker (1846-1876) in Paris* - Beautiful Pair of Ornamental Vases in Sèvres Porcelain mounted as Living Room Lamps equipped with a so-called Carcel lighting system with moderator light. End of the Louis-Philippe period-Beginning of the Second Empire, around 1850
Surrounded by a vaporous “Celestial Blue” background on their baluster-shaped body, each vase is embellished on the front and back of their body with ample oblong cartels. At the heart of these luminous white reserves, set with enveloping foliage motifs (sheaves of ribboned rushes, upturned acanthus, ears of wheat) dotted with small floral bouquets painted in fine gold, generous compositions unfold floral. Evocative of the sweetness and joy of spring, roses, peonies, queen daisies, convolvulus, ranunculus, cornflowers, periwinkles, etc. stems spread their delicate or vibrant blooms. Treated naturally in a chromatic palette delicately combining liveliness and cheerfulness, tenderness and shimmering colors, these lush country bouquets provide freshness and elegance to the porcelain pieces designed as pendants.
Both are encased in a generous gilded bronze frame vigorously chiseled with ornamental motifs of Louis lobes enclose their collars hemmed with a floral garland; interlacing with ornate openwork of flowers, palmette shells, florets and acanthus scrolls embellish their festooned beak with a crown of twisted petals. With superb clasps, volutes and scrolls in leafy acanthus crooks, shells-palmettes and wavy edges magnify the base-legs of these ornamental vases dedicated to lighting the opulent Salons of Yesteryear.
Topped with a frosted glass globe with a hooded chimney, they ingeniously enclose in their body the removable - and unaesthetic - burner with a cylindrical wick. On the latter, the following wording is affixed to a copper plaque with a beaded frame: "MAISON VERNERT/ H.RIVAUD SUCr LAMPISTE/RUE Nve DES PETITS CHAMPS/n° 27. IN PARIS" -, as we find it listed in the General Directory of Commerce for the years 1846 to 1852 supplemented with the following information: "Manufacturer and store of so-called Carcel and moderator lamps, etc. for living rooms, dining rooms and billiards, bronzes and gilding, frames, porcelain ,and everything related to lighting. Subsequently, only the name of "Henri RIVAUD, specialist manufacturer of rich lamps and porcelain mounted in Sèvres, China and Japan (...)" will be used. These elements therefore allow a dating of the Pair of Living Room Lamps that we are presenting.
“Rich lamps” in the spirit of the French 18th century:
Augmenting the laudable gratifications obtained by the Maison Henri Rivaud during the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855 (Honorable Mention and London Medal in particular for "its bronzes" decorated with "porcelain" coming only from "the Manufacture de Sèvres"), the "Paris Illustré" of December 10 and 24, 1854 (no. 5 and 7) praised, from the pen of its chronicler C. Dupire, this "in vogue" establishment acclaimed by the worldly people of the Second Empire "especially at the time of the balls and evenings" in these terms: "We will not end this review without giving a very special mention to one of the oldest and most honorable houses in Paris, one of these houses having preserved intact the ancient commercial probity: the House Rivaud, 27, rue Notre-Dame-des-Petits Champs. Lovers of useful things and art objects will find there everything that good taste and the best understood luxury could desire. Mr. Rivaud has adopted, among bronzes, two specialties for which he has no rival: rich lamps and mounted porcelain. Nothing is prettier than these magnificent porcelain lamps from Sèvres, China and Japan, richly mounted on bronze casting a vivid light, more graceful than these molded cups (..) We will also find in this house superb chandeliers, charming clocks, elegant fireplace trims, in short, everything that art and comfort combined can desire that is more elegant and better." "Renowned for the richness of its products", Maison Rivaud was entrusted in particular with during the year 1855 the lighting considered "resplendent" of the Ball given in his Parisian mansion by the wife of Marshal J.-B.Philibert Vaillant (1790-1872), Minister of Fine Arts.
Without presaging these splendors, their staging by luxurious and clever lighting, we can nevertheless argue that this very becoming Pair of Ornamental Vases elegantly mounted as Lamps should, installed on the mantle of a fireplace, the top of a console of between two or pedestal tables,..., lavish in the heart of the private spaces of wealthy Hausmannian Paris - Living rooms, Boudoirs, Bedrooms - their bright or soft luminosity. As refined as it is ingenious, it also constitutes through the luster of their materials (Sèvres porcelain in the spirit of the 18th century/quality of chasing of the gilded bronze) a fine example of the "luxury lighting" offered by the Maison Henri Rivaud to its rich clientele.

-* Maison Henri RIVAUD (1846-1876): A trained watchmaker, Henri Rivaud purchased during 1846 the business of Jean-François Vernert (1780-1848) "a very honest man" established in the 1830s as "Lampist and Bronze Manufacturer" at numbers 27 and 31 (store and workshop) of Neuve-des Petits-Champs in Paris. The Almanacs or Directories of Commerce from 1846 to 1853 mention his activity under the heading: "VERNERT (H.Rivaud, Successor, factory and store of Lamps called Carcel and moderator, ect..for Salons, dining rooms and billiards, Bronzes and gilding, mounts and porcelain, and everything relating to lighting". During the years 1854-1855, this "Manufacturer-Specialist of rich lamps and porcelain mounted from Sèvres, China and Japan" - except that of Saxe that he will not add to his panel, three prestigious provenances - will add "Fireplace trimmings". The printed press (Paris Illustré, 1854) notes that 'we also find in his store "a collection of bronzes". 'the most curious art, in which numerous groups of Fratins and the best sculptors appear. Appreciated and sought after by the wealthy clientele of the Second Empire, in 1863 he opened "New Stores of Art Bronzes and Furnishings". at n°57 Rue de Richelieu" offering in these places until the end of the 1870s "Clocks, Lamps, Chandeliers, Curiosities, Ship Lighting, etc". Rewarded at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855, the Maison Henri Rivaud specialized in "luxury lighting" earned its letters of nobility in this field in the same way as other distinguished Maisons - Hardot, Gagneau Frères, Chabrié fils, Neuburger ..-praised on the Parisian market for "their mechanical dexterity" and especially their "taste for satisfying the artistic requirements of decoration" (A.Joanne, Paris illustrated, its history, its monuments, its commerce and its pleasures, 1857, L’Eclairage, p.719).
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Paris, Quality work of Louis XV inspiration from Maison Henri Rivaud. End of the Louis-Philippe Period-Beginning of the Second Empire, around 1850.
Materials: excluding Carcel type lighting system: Sèvres porcelain; gilded bronze; transparent and frosted glass;
 Dimensions: H. without globe: 45 cm; base: 19x 19 cm - Total height:
Good condition: porcelain in perfect state of conservation; original gilding; complete with its frosted glass, fireplaces and light moderators. Not electrically mounted