Displaying items by tag: vernis martin

Coming up on June 22, Bonhams Los Angeles is holding a European Furniture and Decorative Arts auction featuring highlights from a myriad of noteworthy collections, including that of Casablanca director Michael Curtiz, and Rupert Murdoch – formerly from the collection of Dr. Jules C. Stein.

Leading the 539-lot sale is a pair of François Linke French gilt bronze mounted Vernis Martin decorated mahogany vitrines, circa 1900 (est. $60,000-80,000). It highlights a strong selection of Parisian furniture and decorative arts from the late 19th century including works by such makers as Linke, Beurdeley, Zwiener, Sormani, Durand, Barbedienne, Escalier de Cristal, Boudet and Christofle.

The art of French lacquer developed in the late 17th century in response to the rising popularity of Japanese and Chinese lacquerware and quickly led to concentration of gilder-varnisher workshops in the Saint-Antoine quarter in Paris where the cabinetmakers and joiners were already established. The French even developed their own technique, Vernis Martin — as recently retraced in an exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris — that enabled the craftsmen to generate blues, greens, and yellows, in addition to Asian reds and blacks. Vernis Martin was soon used to cover all kinds of materials and decorative objects, from woodwork paneling to musical instruments and even horse-drawn carriages.

While lacquering is most traditionally associated with wood and bamboo, it can also be applied on metal, and it is this technique that the skilled craftsmen and women at Hermès have applied in miniature to a new limited edition collection of three new watches under the Arceau Cheval d’Orient name.