Rococo Furniture

A Monumental Meissen Porcelain Figural Group of Apollo and the Nine Muses on Mount Parnassus. Comprised of sixteen interlocking parts. Apollo standing holding a lyre and with Pegasus besides a tree, atop a rocky outcrop detailed with foliage and waterfalls above nine goddesses: Calliope, seated and shown writing, representing eloquence and epic poetry. Clio, seated with an open book and blowing a trumpet, representing history. Erato, seated and holding a kithara, representing science and the arts Euterpe, seated and holding a flute, representing music. Melpomene, seated holding a knife and with one hand to her head, representing tragedy. Thalia, seated and holding aloft mask, representing comedy and idyllic poetry. Urania, seated with telescope and globe, representing astronomy and astrology, Polyhymnia, standing with one hand raised and holding a book, representing sacred poetry. Terpsichore, standing, representing dance. Each piece exceptionally finely detailed and painted. The base portions with rocaille edges. On a later black polished wooden base. Multiple blue crossed swords marks. Each piece titled to underside. German, Circa 1880. Mount Parnassus, is a spur of the Pindus Mountains in central Greece and was sacred to the ancient Greeks and in mythology to Apollo, the god of music and poetry and of the Sun and light. Mount Parnassus the mythical centre of poetry, music, and learning in ancient Greece was a popular theme in Barqoue and Rococo art, often substitutable with Athena’s arrival at Mount Helicon from the fifth book of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, where she asks the Muses to show her the new spring which gushed forth from the spot where Pegasus “with his hoof of horn opened the earth” (V, 250-260). Here, the mountain, formed from rugged rock cliffs, culminates in a plateau on which the youthful Apollo stands and plays the lyre. The Castalian spring flows from beneath Pegasus’ hoof, representing the source of inspiration and attracting the nine muses, who embody the arts and inspire creation through song, music, and dance. Mount Parnassus was created at the Meissen porcelain manufactory as a table centrepiece and an earlier version, apparently with only five muses, is listed in the inventory of the pastry shop of the Meissen manufactory manager and cabinet minister Heinrich Graf Brühl in 1753. The storage in the pastry shop of approximately 3,000 objects and dishes, including many individual parts for centrepieces, is related to their function as table decorations, replacing decorations previously made by the confectioner from perishable materials such as sugar or wax. The purpose of this table decoration was as a feast for the eyes to accompany the feast of the banquet. The sculptural figurines often depicted a particular theme, with characters drawn from theatre and opera, from classical mythology or pastoral idylls. Allegories and mythological themes, such as the glorification of fine arts, were also popular. Stylistically, Mount Parnassus fits Kändler’s style of the 1740s, and was sold by Brühl in 1762 to Frederick the Great of Prussia who used mythology as a means of self-expression and had already ordered individual figures of Apollo and the Muses as table decorations in 1744. Today it is in the Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt (inv. no. M.L. 41). There is another version of Mount Parnassus, from the collection of Prince Alexander Dolgorukoff, in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. The present version dates to the second half of the nineteenth century when there was a great revival of Kändler rococo figurines which were reissued and a “Second Rococo”. Another nineteenth century example is in the collection of the Museo Francesco Borgogna, Italy (inv. 1906, XIII, 19-20). These nineteenth century versions were made by the Meissen factory using Kändler's period models. It is recorded that a new version of Mount Parnassus, dating to the 1880s, was part of the Royal Porcelain collection in Dresden: 'In the porcelain collection there is a new version from the 1880s based on the old models, the largest group of this genre, the Parnassus, which shows the named muses all around on the lower part of the rock, each practising their own art, while on the top there is Apollo with the lyre and next to it the Castalian spring rises from the hoofbeat of Pegasus. Each figure is executed individually with its rocky background, and all the pieces are then fitted together, as we have already seen in his earlier, larger compositions. The rock pieces are finished off like a pedestal at the bottom with Rococo ornaments.' (Jean Louis Sponsel, Kabinettstücke der Meissner Porzellan-manufaktur von Johann Joachim Kändler, Leipzig, 1900, pp. 203-204). Kunst und kunsthandwerk; monatsschrift herausgegeben vom Österreichischen museum fuer kunst und industrie, Vienna, 1894, v.7 pt.1, p.133. Kari Berling, Das Meißner Porzellan und seine Geschichte. Leipzig 1900, S. 99, 187-200. Helmuth Gröger, Johann Joachim Kaendler. Dresden, 1956. Peter W Meister, Franz Adrian Dreier, Figürliche Keramik aus zwei Jahrtausenden. Kat Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt. Frankfurt 1964, Nr. 90. Rainer Rückert, Meißener Porzellan, 1710-1810. Kat. Ausst. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München. München 1966. Stefan Bursche, Tafelzier des Barock. München 1974, Abb. 300. "Tafelaufsatz, Der Parnass", Auswahlkatalog, Museum für Kunsthandwerk (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), 1987, pp. 86-87. Alfred Ziffer, ‘Meissener Porzellanplastik für fürstliches Interieur und Zeremoniell’, Keramos, Issue 241/242, pp. 29–52. MEISSEN The production of Meissen porcelain began in 1710 at the manufactory at Meissen...

19th Century rococo style glass cabinet. With a decorative carved pediment, below two glazed doors opening to shelves and drawers, below two shor...

French Louis XV style bronze chandelier from the late 19th century. This Rococo style ten-light chandelier is cast bronze and has an a...

Charming vintage white painted mirror from France. This mirror certainly suitable as a stand alone piece or featured as part of a gallery wall in a living, dining or bedroom setting....

A fine pair of antique German silver cornucopia vases with cherubs, Hanau, circa 1890. The vases most likely by Friedrich Reusswig, a silversmi...

An incredible and truly monumental 19th century Meissen Porcelain Covered urn emblematic of autumn. This is one of the most incredible and sp...

Important Rococo style clock in chased and gilt bronze. This Louis XV style clock has a very fine decoration of moving foliage, flowers and shells. The whole is surmounted by a bouqu...

Antique Rococo style porcelain mirror by Meissen German, 19th century Measures: Height 94cm, width 66cm, depth 14cm...

Giltwood urn lamp with an ornate, classical design, The Rococo inspired base is heavily ornamented with intricate scroll and acanthus leaf motifs, reminiscent of European antiques. ...

Antique Turquoise and Gold Brooch 19th century Victorian era Design in the manner of: Faberge, Bvlgari, Carlo Giuliano Large antique antique ...

A 19th century French Bronze Dore lantern of very good quality, wonderful warm patina and very well hand chased finish. The three armed canopy of s...

A Magnificent Rococo Style Gilt-Bronze, Bois Satiné and Mahogany Commode. By Rosel, Brussels, After The Celebrated Model By Johann Melchoir Kambli. Of curvaceous bombé form surmoun...

An important pair of Meissen Porcelain Groups depicting "Alexander The Great Concurring India". Modeled with Alexander the great's three warriors/soldiers riding on caparisoned eleph...

Pair of very large French Sèvres style porcelain and ormolu vases French, Late 19th Century Height 151cm, width 45cm, depth 39cm Executed in the style of Sèvres, one of the bes...

This large clock set, which is comprised of a mantel clock and pair of flanking candelabra, is designed in the style of Sèvres Porcelain manufactory goods. In the manner of Sèvres Po...

Victorian rococo style one drawer cuban mahogany console table, Circa 1890s in very good condition and measuring 37.5" in width, 16.5" in depth and stands 32.5" tall.

A Pair Of Meissen Porcelain Mythological Figural groups, of 'Neptune and Thetis' and 'The Triumphal Procession of Amphitrite'. 'Neptune and Thetis' modelled with the god of the sea ...

Enamel cloissoné and gilt bronze picture frame. France, late 19th century.

A very fine and impressive pair of French 19th century Louis XV style Rococo style six-light gilt-bronze wall lights - wall sconces. The ornate six-light candelabrum with five scroll...

Antique Swedish corner cabinet made during the early 1800s. The cabinet is made in the transitional style where rococo became neoclassical, or gustavian, style during the early 1800s...

This monumental American sterling silver flatware service by Gorham epitomizes the stately glamour of turn-of-the-century dining. A to...

A French antique brass ormolu and velvet jewelry box, Rococo design style, circa late-19th century, France. Box is perforated brass ormolu (ormolu has a design of urns, leaves and fl...

A magnificent and fully complete set of 5 Meissen figures emblematic of the senses: Hearing, smell, touch, taste, and sight, Modeled by J.J. Kändler and J.F. Eberlein. These figures ...

A charming provincial Swedish tragsofa dating. From the turn of the 19th Century in old, but not original, paint remnants. Later cushions covered in plain linen.

Set of Ten Italian Rococo style dining chairs with hand carved floral urn at tops of chairs. The urns are flanked by two scrolls. The chairs stand on four straight legs with intric...

Filled with curves and graceful lines, this pair of Rococo style Swedish arm chairs have a soft gray painted finish. Distress to the dove gray painted finish is seen throughout, in p...

Fantastic TOILET German in ebonized wood and German Dresden porcelain. Polychrome decoration with embossed flowers with puttis and two drawers. 19th Century Dim.: 155 x 54 x 46 cm ...

Pair of large ormolu mounted cobalt-blue ground jewelled porcelain vases French, Late 19th Century Height 68cm, width 30cm, depth 25cm Made in the style of the renowned French Sèv...

A Pair of 19th Century Carved Giltwood Rococo Wall Brackets. Both are decorated with an asymmetric pierced foliate design featuring richly carved rococo C scrolls interspersed with f...

This wonderful clock set displays many of the characteristics of the 18th century Rococo style. These include gracefulness, asymmetry, and the use of curved forms. The set, which includes a mantel clock and pair of vases, is crafted from gilt metal and is mounted with decorative porcelain plaques. The mantel clock features a gilt metal rectangular case with a break arch top. This is crowned by an urn, featuring a gilt metal stem and a pinky-red floral porcelain body, which is covered by a gilt metal lid and finial. The case is also topped by a gilt metal wreath...

19th century Portuguese Rococo style mahogany chair featuring a scrolled crest on a double yolk back centering a shaped flat splat, scalloped seat rail ...

Here is an absolutely stunning early 19th century rococo Swedish bench. This beautiful piece has been dry scrapped to the original paint. It features a white color palette throughout...

Antique Limoges Porcelain Plates with Ornate Gold Gilding and Intricate Snowflake Medallion Design This breathtaking set of antique p...

This magnificent five-piece clock set is designed in the style of 18th century porcelain produced by the famous Sèvres Manufactory in France. The set is comprised of a mantel clock, a pair of flanking vases—which double-up as candelabra—and two candlesticks. The five items are crafted from ‘bleu Sèvres’ (navy) colored porcelain, which has been finely parcel gilt, jewelled and painted, and mounted in gilt bronze (ormolu). The mantel clock is composed of a circular porcelain dial, with a central painting of cherubs in flight, encircled by black Roman Numerals within white medallions. This is set within a gilt bronze bezel, crowned by a porcelain lidded urn, fitted with gilt bronze satyr head handles, draped with flower swags, and topped by a gilt bronze grape cluster finial. The clock case is supported on four porcelain columns, which are surmounted by a gilt bronze pinecone-tipped staff, draped with tasselled fabrics. A gilt bronze sculpture of a dancing Maenad (also called a Bacchante)—a female follower of the classical god of wine and ecstasy, Dionysus (or Bacchus). The woman plays the tambourine and is accompanied by a putto. The clock is placed on a shaped gilt bronze base, with two projecting scrolled wings, decorated with gilt bronze acanthus leaves and porcelain patera. The base is mounted with porcelain paintings of classical trophies, and putti within a gilt bronze cartouche frame. It is set on two gilt bronze feet, which are decorated with pointed porcelain covers and gilt bronze rosettes. Depending on personal preference, the vases that accompany the clock can be left as they are or made to serve as candelabra. When vases, they are topped by porcelain domed lids, with gilt bronze grape finials. To turn the items into candelabra, these lids are replaced by gilt bronze covers. Each cover is fitted with six gilt bronze branches—five of which are scrolling and decorated with acanthus leaves, and one extends upwards in a straight line. These terminate in wide drip-pans and urn-shaped capitals. The porcelain vase bodies feature fine paintings of couples courting in garden settings, and they are fitted with gilt bronze cherub head...

A very fine, antique KPM porcelain flower encrusted fruit basket. With traditional twig form handles and feet, an openwork body, flower encrus...

A very unusual and rare pair of Meissen Schneeballen and intricately ormolu mounted potpourri vases with covers. The vases are supported by finely...

Italian Rococo-style (19th Century) carved giltwood dressing table / vanity mirror with a carved base. Condition: Good; Wear consistent with age and use

Large Rococo style porcelain mantel clock by Meissen German, 19th century Measures: Height 66cm, width 33cm, depth 25cm This superb mantel clock is a truly wonderful example of ...

This charming 19th-century porcelain figurine group, created by Samson & Cie of Paris, captures the elegance and whimsy of 18th-century European decorative arts. The scene features a...

Fine pair of early 19th century Dutch marquetry corner cabinets. On the facade and top, there is excellent floral marquetry floral work with birds, fl...

Very large Napoleon III period Rococo style gilt bronze lantern French, late 19th century Measures: Height 176cm, width 80cm, depth 80cm This exceptional lantern was produced du...

Sevres Ormolu-Mounted Covered Vase of impressive size depicting cupid and two cherubs in a lush and colorful garden on both sides. The glazed painting applied bursts with bright and ...

Notable for its incredible marquetry case and beautifully embellished Baccarat crystal, this handsome 19th-century cave à liqueur consists of three decanters and 16 cordial glasses. ...

This is a fantastic genuine period 1820s (perhaps even earlier) Italian Rococo sideboard. The sideboard features a fine early French-polished finish over a very primitively made case...

This hand-carved and decorated wooden rococo Lounge Chair from the mid-18th century embodies timeless French elegance. It has inspiration from a classic French armchair, though this ...

A Magnificent Pair of George II Style English Carved Giltwood ‘Rococo’ Wall Mirrors After A Design By Thomas Johnson. Of large proportions, each mirror having a cartouche-shaped plate within a profusely carved and pierced branch-entwined frame with stylised acanthus foliate rocaille and ‘C’-scroll decoration, architectural motifs and running dogs, surmounted by an asymmetrical pagoda form cresting with rockwork spires and a seated rustic couple holding a basket, flanked by confronted Ho-Ho birds, with a conforming asymmetrical apron of acanthus and waterwork icicles centred by a perching bird. This magnificent and ornate pair of English wall mirrors or ‘pier glasses’ are refined and reduced from a design by Thomas Johnson (1723–1799) first published in 1756 and included in his ‘Collections of Designs’ (1758), plate 4, and republished in his ‘One Hundred and Fifty New Designs" (1761) as plate 22. Pier Glasses were designed to be placed on the wall or 'pier' between windows; as well as forming part of a decorative scheme they provided an important functional use, creating a reversal of dynamic with the windows at night, reflecting and maximising the light given off by candles or oil lamps. Johnson’s asymmetrical design creates a sense of fluidity and lightness to the mirrors, employing ‘contraste’ in the placing or absence of elements, to create a stylised form, which through the dynamic tension of its constituent parts instils the mirrors with a sense of playfulness and vitality. In London throughout the 1740s and 1750s there developed a great enthusiasm for the whimsical Rococo style, and it rapidly became the height of fashion, popularised, and disseminated throughout the country and further afield by cabinetmakers’ 'Books of Prices', and 'Directories'. The second half of the 19th century saw a revival of the Rococo style in England and many designers and furniture makers turned once again to Chippendale’s ‘Director’ and designs by Matthias Lock and Thomas Johnson for inspiration, with fine examples based on modified designs or specific plates. Thomas Johnson’s designs, executed in a vigourous picturesque manner, are often inspired by the work of earlier French designers, transposing motifs taken from engraved ornament by Jean Bérain, Daniel Marot, William de la Cour, J. B. Toro and Francis Barlow...

Monumental 19th century Italian parcel and water gilt mirror with beautifully ornately carved birds, fruit, foliage and faces. Measures: 91" H x 60" W.

An antique English ebonized and hand carved wood fire screen, having its original needlepoint in good condition. This is an antique English pole screen, early Victorian with needlepo...

This large and impressive clock garniture set consists of a central clock and a pair of flanking vases. The three pieces are extremely finely decorated with painted cartouches of fly...

A Venetian Micromosaic-Framed Mirror, Late 19th century The oval plate within an eared rectangular frame decorated with applied mosaic flowers an...

A French Gilded Brass 8 Branch Rococo Chandelier (Candelier) This is an excellent quality and large piece it is very heavy and has a superb aged gilt finish The Chandelier is decora...

A Swedish Rococo style tall cabinet from circa 1850 with bonnet top, light gray painted finish, glass doors, four drawers, carved skirt and curving legs. Immerse your home in the ele...

A fine quality French mythological terracotta sculpture, after Clodion (Claude Michel Clodion 1738 - 1814), depicting a young female faun/satyr playing with two Bacchante cherubs, on...

Decorate a powder room, entry or hallway with this colorful antique wall mirror. Crafted in Italy circa 1880, and 5 feet in lenght, the stunning piece is ornately decorated with a ri...

Lavish Meissen porcelain serves as the extraordinary frame for this mirror. Exquisitely hand-painted in polychrome with gilt accents, the bountiful fr...

Rococo style, 1874, Steinway & Sons Centennial concert grand piano with a rosewood case, filigree music desk and ornately carved, reverse scroll legs. Piano is rebuilt. The piano cheek features a carved, Classical meander and acanthus in high relief. The two-pedal piano lyre features carved inverted fish, c-scrolls and a central cartouche. The music desk in an openwork arabesque design and a central lyre motif. A sinuous wave pattern double moulding surrounds the cabinet base. At the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there were several manufacturer's competitions, including a piano competition. The Steinway company sent two grand pianos displaying their latest developments, demonstrating the firm's innovative and markedly improved piano quality. Their determined pursuit of quality was rewarded at the world exhibition with a gold medal. Steinway won the competition against several established, well-known American piano makers, including Chickering and Sons and Weber. This Steinway concert grand...

Sèvres style porcelain and gilt bronze jardinière and vase garniture suite French, late 19th century Measures: Vases: height 72cm, width 36cm, depth 22cm Urn: height 53cm, width 5...

Two exquisite Fête Galante scenes from France, painted in the early 19th century in Rococo style. The first depicts various groups of figures as they gather in a park, with classica...

Charming 19th century hand carved giltwood mirror. The carving is unique and looks to be braided. The finish is worn with bits of gold missing. Great accent mirror in any style decor.

An exceptional and quite large pair of 19th century antique Meissen porcelain hunting groups with "The Prince" and "The Princess" each riding a horse followed by a bunch of hunting d...