A French silvered bronze 'Japonisme' three-piece garniture, late 19th century

This garniture of impressive size and quality reveals the influence of Japan on French decorative arts and furniture pieces from the second half of the 19th century. The garniture indeed presents key characteristics of Japonisme, a craze in France for Japan which later gave rise to art mouvements such as Impressionism, the aesthetic movement and Art Nouveau. With the designer Edouard Lièvre as an important figure for Japonisme and the decorative arts, the design vocabulary often included elephants, dragons, cranes, stylized foliage, blossoming branches, the lotus flower and intricate intertwined lines. 

A mantel clock similar to the present one was sold at Bonhams, London, 4 July 2013, lot 203.