Pair of Polychrome Enameled Glass Mosque Lamps, P.-J. Brocard

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Pair of Polychrome Enameled Glass Mosque Lamps, P.-J. Brocard

About the Item

Philippe-Joseph Brocard (1831-1896). A Pair of Polychrom Enamelled Glass mosque lamps. In the islamic tradition, notably Mamelouk period Painted blown glass, calligraphic inscriptions, 19th century, Paris, circa 1870. Measures: H 37 cm, D 25 cm. Biography: Philippe-Joseph Brocard (1831-1896) Glass artist « Of late enamelled glass has been much sought after, and our neighbours have been paying great attention to this style of decoration. M. Brocard, of Paris, has been particularly successful, and his enamelled glass is of great beauty and excellence .» Original Designs for Art Manufacture, The Art Journal (1880) P.-J. Brocard started his career as a restorer and collector of antiques; fascinated by the Mamluk mosque lamps in the Musée de Cluny, Paris, he began to collect them himself and thus had models close at hand to study. Mosque lamps were luxury objects for hanging in mosques and mausolea and were the most spectacular achievements of enamelled glass from Mamluk Egypt and Syria from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. Brocard was among the first to revive Islamic enamelling techniques. Indeed, the interest of P-J Brocard for fine arts was large, and he had leading activity in the field of furniture, faience and glass. However, he did not produce glass bodies himself but developed enamelling and gilding technology, taking as model the most famous artefacts collected in museums. Moreover, he is also well-known for the restoration of many Mamluk Dynasty masterpieces, which is quite eloquent when taking into consideration the pair of lamp we are dealing with. Brocard’s work first came to notice at the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873, but it is not until the Paris Exhibition of 1880 that his reputation was further boosted, when four Brocard’s pieces were bought to be brought to Melbourne for inclusion in the 1880 International Exhibition. The development of solid-state chemistry at the end of 19th century offered a variety of routes to colour a glass matrix, and Brocard epitomizes the significant fascination and enthusiasm with orientalism on the part of painters alike in the 1870s and 1880s. His glass is remarkable for its lyrical but precise polychrom enamel decoration, which in style is based on the enamelled and gilded glass made in Syria in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Our pair of mosque lamps are thus strinkingly Islamic in style, allied with naturalism in character and openly indebted to both oriental and occidental patterns. The genius of glass production: Creations by Philipe-Joseph Brocard made many followers among its contemporaries, while influencing eminent glass Masters such as Emile Gallé. Complex and of most demanding in term of glass decoration, the enamels manufactoring associated with painted blown glass demands a skilful handling of the materials : the realization of enamels as well as their fixing depend on a process of combustion where the degree of hardness must be maintained sufficient not to run and adhere at the same time sustainaably to glass carried with its temperature of softening, which implies a degree of fusibility of the two materials brought closer enough, and, accordingly, a glass of special composition melting at a lower temperature than the usual one. During the 19th century, the development of chemistry offered a variety of new colouring agents, and craftsmen as painters tested the potential of theses new chemicals. Indeed, the knowledge on enamelled glass is rather limited due to the technic and the high value of the artefacts. That is the reason why most of the objects entered in international collections (such as The British Museum in London) by direct purchase from Brocard. After the disappearance of Philippe-Joseph Brocard in 1896, his son Emile, entered the family business by 1884 and continued the production of the same kind of enamel decorations until the end of the century. Related works: - (1) Mosque lamp, painted and enamelled blown glass, Paris, 1867, by Philippe-Joseph Brocard. H : 36 cm, British Museum Collections, London, UK. Bibliography: Original Designs for Art Manufacture, The Art Journal, vol. XIX, 1880, p. 173. L’Art du Verre en France 1860-1914, Lausanne, 1974, Morrison McClinton. Brocard and the Islamic Revival, Connoisseur, December 1980.

Dimensions:
Height: 14.57 in (37 cm)Diameter: 9.85 in (25 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Style:
Islamic (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Glass
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1870-1879
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1870
Condition:
In state, very good Without restoration.
Seller Location:
Saint-Ouen, FR
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU200734876913