Description
Large Louis XV Cartel In Martin Varnish
Large cartel and its cul-de-lamp in green Martin varnish with polychrome decoration of natural flowers and animals.
Composed of a violin-shaped cartel, it is richly ornamented with chiseled and openwork rocaille shapes in gilded bronze.
The pediment is surmounted by stylized flowers in gilded bronze, assembled at the top with a ribbon bow.
The cartel is painted with pink flowers on the front and on its sides. The cul-de-lampe is decorated with paintings of pink flowers and an animal scene representing a swan, its wings spread, protecting its eggs from a dog.
The enamel dial has Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the minutes. The interior door is also painted with pink flowers and the movement is signed Bichon à Moulin.
This cartel is in excellent condition and very interesting and decorative due to its large size.
It has its pendulum and its key.
Martin Varnish:
Created by the Martin brothers in 1728, in the streets of the Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin suburbs, it competed with the lacquers of China and Japan.
This varnish, worked by superimposed layers (such as the lacquers of the Far East) is based on copal and allows, unlike Asian lacquers, to adorn important curves on the furniture and objects of this period.
Indeed, the lacquer panels only support very little to be rounded, this technique allowed the artists to work curved forms.
In addition, replacing the black and red colors of Asian lacquers, French lacquers acquired a wider range of colors. Thus, furniture and objects could diversify with green, blue or even yellow backgrounds.
The iconography, far from representations of Asian scenes, focused more on floral and animal themes.
Very popular with high society, Martin varnish sublimated French interiors of the 18th century and is still today very representative of this period.
Dimensions: H 82 cm x W 44 cm x D 19 cm
Dimensions of the tailpiece: H 34 x W 49 x D 27 cm