A Rare Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Inkwell, Cast By The Ferdinand Barbedienne

Object Description

A Rare Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Inkwell. Designed by Léon Messagé and Cast By The Ferdinand Barbedienne Foundry, Paris.

Signed ‘L.Messagé Sc.’, and with foundry mark ‘F.BARBEDIENNE’.

Designed in the exuberant Rococo style surmounted by a seated figure of cupid as the messenger of love, reading a tablet and holding a torch. The shell-shaped basin cast with acanthus branches and leaves above two lidded wells.

This exceptional encrier (inkwell) was designed by Léon Messagé, the renowned sculptor who produced gilt-bronze mounts and sculptural work for François Linke’s most magnificent exhibition furniture.

France, Circa 1895

Object Literature

L. Messagé, Cahier des Dessins et Croquis Style Louis XV, Paris, 1890 pl.10 (the model illustrated).
C. Payne, François Linke, 1855-1946, The Belle Époque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, p. 72-73, pl. 67 (an identical model of this inkwell signed by Léon Messagé illustrated).

Object Details