Portemanteau porte-parapluie aux initiales et à la devise de Sarah Bernhardt

Anonyme

Artwork not currently exhibited in the museum

With its medieval inspiration, this coat and umbrella stand is a marvellous example of the adaptation of historical references to domestic purposes.The unusually elegant structure has two compartments of equal size. They are divided by three pieces of wrought iron decorated with elements from Gothic architecture. It is a modern version of the cathedral style that flourished in the decorative arts in France under the Restoration and the July monarchy.
In short, the stand is a fine transitional work between the historicist furniture still in vogue at the time and Art Nouveau. It owes much to the research of architects and decorators who were enamoured with Gothic art, such as Viollet-le-Duc, Ruprich-Robert or Eugène Grasset.
The upper part, the coat stand proper, is supported by a rod of wrought iron flanked by three very fine twisted columns. The shield bearing Sarah Bernhardt's initials and motto "Quand même" is fixed to it. The provocative motto ("Nevertheless") expresses Sarah's stubbornness and tenacity in the face of setbacks in her career or private life. The presence of these inscriptions on the stand seems to be an ironic flouting of the old usages of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, particularly by an actress, even if she was one of the most famous women in the world.
The stand is unsigned and is difficult to attribute to any particular craftsman. But whoever made this small wrought iron wonder satisfied the Divine's taste for bizarre, refined objects and the great artistic references of the past.

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About this object record
Suggestion

Artist(s)

Anonyme

auteur

Title(s)

titre principal : Portemanteau porte-parapluie aux initiales et à la devise de Sarah Bernhardt

Date

entre 1880 et 1890

Others accession number

Accession number

OAO 1507

Description

fer forgé

Dimensions

H. 197,0 ; L. 47,0 ; P. 48,0 cm.

Designation

porte-parapluie

objet domestique

Inscription(s)

inscriptions : BS / Quand même

Place of conservation

musée d'Orsay

collection Sarah Bernhardt
jusqu'en 2005, galerie Antonin Rispal
2005, accepté par l'Etat à titre de donation de Mme Antonin Rispal pour l'Etablissement public du musée d'Orsay (conseil scientifique de l'EPA M'O du 07/06/2005, commission des acquisitions de l'EPA M'O du 13/06/2005, conseil artistique des Musées nationaux du 22/06/2005, décision du président de l'EPA M'O n°2005-34-/DM du 19/10/2005)

Modality of acquisition

donation

Acquistion Date

2005

Un ensemble Art Nouveau. La donation Rispal - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2006-2007
Art Nouveau et industrie du luxe à Paris - Setagaya Art Museum - Japon, Tokyo, 2009
Art Nouveau et industrie du luxe à Paris - Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum - Japon, Nagasaki, 2009-2010
Art Nouveau et industrie du luxe à Paris - Prefectural Art Museum - Japon, Hiroshima, 2010
Le Temps des Collections. Hector Guimard – fontes architecturales - musée Le Secq des Tournelles - France, Rouen, 2017-2018
Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) - Petit Palais - Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris - France, Paris, 2023

General bibliography

Aubry, Louis, Revue des arts décoratifs, "La Ferronerie à l'Exposition universelle de 1900", Paris, [s.n.], 1900, p.177-183
Dargenty, G., L'Art, "Les Industries d'art. IV. Un ferronier", Paris, [s.n.], 1904, p.49-59
Calmettes, Pierre, Art et décoration, "Un Maître ferronier, Emile Robert", Paris, [s.n.], 1908, p.89-98
Murray-Robertson, Anne, Grasset, pionnier de l'Art Nouveau, Paris, Bibliothèque des Arts, 1981, p.49-61

Exposition catalog

Thiébaut, Philippe ; Gabet, Olivier ; Héran, Emmanuelle ; Massé, Marie-Madeleine, Un ensemble Art Nouveau : la donation Rispal, cat.exp. (2006), Paris, Musée d'Orsay ; Flammarion, 2006, cat. n°212
Cogeval, Guy [sous la direction de] ; Thiébaut, Philippe [sous la direction de], Art Nouveau et industrie du luxe à Paris, cat.exp. (Tokyo, Setagaya art museum, 12 septembre-29 novembre 2009 ; Nagasaki prefectural art museum, 11 décembre 2009-28 février 2010 ; Hiroshima prefectural art museum, 7 avril-13 juin 2010), Tokyo, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 2009, p. 111, n° 69 ; p. 225