19th Century Cupboards

A very fine late 19th century gilt bronze-mounted Louis XV style Vernis Martin cabinet. By Joseph Zwiener. The central section finely decorated door panel displaying an allegorical 'Vernis Martin' scene, within a gilt bronze banded frame. With finely cast acanthus and figurative gilt bronze mounts. Stamped ‘NZ’ for Zwiener on the back of the escutcheons and reverse of the bronze mask to the base. Born in Herdon, Germany, in 1849, Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener followed the tradition of some of the best ébnistes of the 19th century. He moved to Paris establishing a workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, between 1880 and 1895. He produced a wide array of the very finest furniture, modelling in his own interpretations of the 18th century Louis XV Rococo style, veneered with the highest and finest quality marquetry and 'Vernis Martin' panels. Exhibiting at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1889, Zwiener was awarded a Gold Medal for what the jury reported as 'dè ses dèbuts à une Exposition Universelle, [il] s'est mi au premier rang par la richesse, la hardinesse, et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronze et fort habilment marquetés.' Zwiener was closely associated with François Linke and the two houses produced work which, at first glance, is remarkably similar and with occasionally identical mounts. The similarities are made more likely by the fact that the brilliant sculptor, Léon Messagé, worked initially for Zwiener and subsequently, upon Zwiener's departure for Berlin to work on furniture commissioned by Freidrich Wilhelm II, he was employed in the workshop of François Linke. It appears that Zwiener, unlike Linke, did not sign all his work, although some stamped pieces with his name and/or his "Z" initial are documented. There is some uncertainty between the recorded stamp E. Zwiener and the work of a Julius Zwiener...