On 6 March 2014 Christie’s sale of The Opulent Eye will offer furniture, sculpture and works of art from the 19th century. The sale reflects the eclectic and opulent styles of the period from the regal grandeur of Napoleon’s Empire to the Art Nouveau of Belle époque Paris. The sale is led by an exceptional French gilt- bronze mirror designed by the sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier Belleuse and made by the bronzier Ferdinand Barbedienne (estimate: £100,000-150,000, illustrated above). An important discovery from a Private Monaco Collection, the mirror stands 2 meters high and is sculpted with foliate scrolls and figures emblematic of fortune. Only two other examples of the mirror are known: one in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, the other in the Bowes Museum, Co. Durham.
Complete catalogue available online at www.christies.com or via the Christie’s iPhone app.
