Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
French, 1848-1895
The 19th-century German cabinetmaker Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener rose to prominence for his beautiful reproductions of Louis XV furniture in the Rococo style. The influence of the Art Nouveau movement can be seen in Zwiener's work as well, and his ornate cabinets, gilded writing desks and exquisitely detailed chests of drawers are just some of the many examples of his mastery of furniture design.
Zwiener was born in Herdon, Germany, around 1848. By 1880, he had moved to Paris and established a workshop on the Rue de la Roquette. Zwiener was quick to earn esteem among the European nobility as a producer of fine furniture. In 1884, he created a replica of the famous Bureau du Roi roll-top desk for King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He also partnered with famed French sculptor Léon Messagé, whose gorgeous designs are credited with helping Zwiener win the gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle.
In 1895, Zwiener returned to Berlin after securing a commission from Wilhelm II. His workshop was taken over by cabinetmaker François Linke. Linke's style was similar to Zwiener's. Linke also continued to work with Messagé, preserving the workshop's tradition of exceptional craftsmanship.
In Germany, Wilhelm II was eager to showcase the talents of German furniture makers to the world. He tasked Zwiener with producing an extensive suite of furniture for his royal palaces. The furniture was exhibited at the German Pavilion during the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Later, many of the pieces followed Wilhelm II to his manor house, Huis Doorn, in the Netherlands, where he lived in exile.
Over his career, Zwiener also produced furniture for elite international clients like New York art collector Charles Tyson Yerkes and French author Baroness Hélène van Zuylen of the Rothschild banking family.
On 1stDibs, find antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener case pieces, tables, wall decorations and more.
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Creator: Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Wonderful 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Vitrine by Joseph Zwiener
By Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in New York, NY
A wonderful late 19th century Louis XV style gilt bronze mounted vitrine by Joseph Zwiener.
Joseph Zwiener
The serpentine-shaped brèche d’ alep marble top above a single centered glass door, flanked to each side by a conforming panel, the mirrored interior fitted with three adjustable glass shelves, the canted angles set with pierced foliate-cast clasps, above a bombé shaped apron, on cabriole legs with scrolled-acanthus sabots.
The quality of the cabinetry and solid wood frame, along with the quality and design of the mounts, is characteristic of Zwiener’s oeuvre. Similar flower-filled cornucopia chutes can be found on other Zwiener models.
Born in Herdon, Germany, in 1849, Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener followed the tradition of some of the best ébnistes of the nineteenth century. He moved to Paris establishing a workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, between 1880 and 1895. He produced a wide array of the very finest furniture, modelling in his own interpretations of the eighteenth century Louis XV Rococo style, veneered with the highest and finest quality marquetry and ‘Vernis Martin’ panels. Exhibiting at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1889, Zwiener was awarded a gold medal for what the jury reported as ‘dè ses dèbuts à une Exposition Universelle, [il] s’est mi au premier rang par la richesse, la hardinesse, et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronze et fort habilment marquetés.’
Zwiener was closely associated with François Linke, and the two houses produced work which, at first glance, is remarkably similar and with occasionally identical mounts. The similarities are made more likely by the fact that the brilliant sculptor, Léon Messagé, worked initially for Zwiener and subsequently, upon Zwiener’s departure for Berlin to work on furniture commissioned by Freidrich Wilhelm II , he was employed in the workshop of François Linke. It appears that Zwiener, unlike Linke, did not sign all his work, although some stamped pieces with his name and/or his “Z” initial are documented. There is some uncertainty between the recorded stamp E. Zwiener and the work of a Julius Zwiener...
Category
Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Marble, Bronze
Wonderful 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Vitrine Table by Joseph Zwiener
By Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in New York, NY
A wonderful late 19th century gilt bronze Mounted Louis XV style Vitrine table by Joseph Zwiener
Joseph Zwiener
The oval shaped table with a beveled glass top encircled by a bronze frieze, above four side glass panels, the canted angles set with pierced foliate-cast clasps, standing on cabriole legs tapering to scrolled sabots.
Born in Herdon, Germany, in 1849, Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener followed the tradition of some of the best ébnistes of the nineteenth century. He moved to Paris establishing a workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, between 1880 and 1895. He produced a wide array of the very finest furniture, modeling in his own interpretations of the eighteenth century Louis XV Rococo style, veneered with the highest and finest quality marquetry and ‘Vernis Martin’ panels. Exhibiting at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1889, Zwiener was awarded a gold medal for what the jury reported as ‘dè ses dèbuts à une Exposition Universelle, [il] s’est mi au premier rang par la richesse, la hardinesse, et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronze et fort habilment marquetés.’
Zwiener was closely associated with François Linke, and the two houses produced work which, at first glance, is remarkably similar and with occasionally identical mounts. The similarities are made more likely by the fact that the brilliant sculptor, Léon Messagé, worked initially for Zwiener and subsequently, upon Zwiener’s departure for Berlin to work on furniture commissioned by Freidrich Wilhelm II , he was employed in the workshop of François Linke. It appears that Zwiener, unlike Linke, did not sign all his work, although some stamped pieces with his name and/or his “Z” initial are documented. There is some uncertainty between the recorded stamp E. Zwiener and the work of a Julius Zwiener...
Category
Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Bronze
Rare Matched Pair of Louis XVI Style Wall Vitrines by Zwiener, circa 1890
By Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A rare and unusual matched pair of Louis XVI style gilt bronze-mounted wall vitrines by Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener.
French, circa 1890.
Signed ‘E. Zwiener’ to the base of the bro...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Bronze
Pair of Louis XVI Style Vitrines with Wedgwood Plaques by Zwiener, circa 1880
By Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
An important pair of Louis XVI style gilt-bronze mounted vitrines with wedgwood Jasperware plaques, by Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener.
French, circa 1880.
Stamped 'NZ', 'NZ.309' and 'ZJ' to the reverse of the bronze mounts.
Signed to the reverse of the lockplate 'Mon THEAU THIEFFINE Succ./SERRURIER PARIS'.
This rare pair of vitrines, each have a shaped Carrera marble top above a frieze centred by a round classical Jasperware plaque flanked by gilt-bronze putti figures and scrolling acanthus running pattern. Below is a gilt-bronze framed bevelled glass door above a panel centred by a finely modelled Jasperware plaque of a putto representing the seasons. The door is flanked to either side by gilt-bronze monnaie pattern and headed by a pair of exceptionally fine female canephor figures. The shaped sides have corresponding bevelled glass panels and the vitrine is raised on tapering fluted legs.
The distinctive canephor figures, finely cast as female caryatids with ringlets in their hair and supporting baskets of fruit upon their heads, is a distinctive and celebrated model unique to Zwiener. Many of Zwieners bronzes are executed in the Louis XV style, with flowers and scrolling acanthus leaves and an emphasis on asymmetry, typical of the work of his bronze sculptor Léon Messagé. The mounts employed on this rare pair of vitrines however sees Zwiener creating his own up-to-date reinterpretation of the Louis XVI style, drawing inspiration from established Louis XVI models such as those designed by Weisweiler for Marie-Antoinette's Dressing table. [See Mestdagh, p.305].
A second distinctive feature of the vitrines is the finely modelled Wedgwood Jasperware plaques incorporated in the frieze of each vitrine and beneath the doors. Wedgwood exhibited at nearly all of the Universal Exhibitions held in 19th century France, displaying amongst other pieces, plaques specifically intended to be mounted on to furniture. The first vitrine displays to the frieze a finely modelled plaque in the classical style, depicting a group of putti at play, one being pushed on a swing, while another plays a trumpet and a small attentive dog watches from below. Beneath the glass panelled door a larger Jasperware plaque is incorporated depicting a putto figure with a garland of flowers, emblematic of spring.
The second vitrine has a classical plaque...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Bronze
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Linke was born on 17 June 1855 in the small village of Pankraz, in what is now the Czech Republic. Records show that Linke served an apprenticeship with the master cabinet maker, Neumann, which he completed in 1877. Linke’s work book or Arbeits-Buch records that he was in Vienna from July 1872 to October 1873 at the time of the International Exhibition held there in 1873.
He subsequently travelled to Prague, Budapest & Weimar before finally arriving in Paris in 1875. It is documented that he obtained employment with an unknown German cabinetmaker in Paris, and stylistic similarities, photographs and geographical proximity have led some to suggest that Emmanuel Zwiener was the most likely candidate. After a period back in his home town of Pankratz, he returned once and for all to Paris in 1877. In 1878 Paris hosted the third great International Exhibition, a remarkable success for a country ravaged by war only seven years earlier. It is known that the fledgling Linke workshops were active in the Faubourg St. Antoine as early as 1881, during this time he supplied furniture for other more established makers such as Jansen and Krieger.
By 1889 another World’s Fair, as they were often referred to in America, took place in Paris. Monsieur Eiffel erected what has become the most iconic building in Paris for the exhibition and the atmosphere of wealth and confidence may well have encouraged Linke to think that he could contribute an important part to the next great exhibition. As early as 1892 this was decreed to take place at the end of the century, in an attempt to pre-empt Berlin from staging the last great show of the century.
In 1892, Victor Champier (fr) one of the commissioners for the 1900 Paris Fair had appealed, “Create in the manner of the masters, do not copy what they have made”. It was an appeal against mere reproduction and Linke rose to this challenge in an unparalleled way with his unique display that was to include the Grand Bureau.
Determined to outshine the competition at the Exhibition, Linke had set about creating the most ambitious pieces he could envisage, and more extravagant than had ever been displayed before. The items he exhibited marked a transition from the historicist interpretation of Louis XV and Louis XVI styles, an interpretation that was the mainstay of his nearest rivals, to something startlingly new and vital in its immediacy. [6] Together with Léon Messagé he developed a new style for the 1900 Exhibition that paid homage to the Louis XV rococo in the fluidity of its approach, but an approach fused with the lively flowing lines of the contemporary and progressive 'art nouveau'. The Art Journal reported in 1900 on Linke's stand:
"The work of M. Linke ... was an example of what can be done by seeking inspiration amongst the classic examples of Louis XV and XVI without in any great sense copying these great works. M. Linke's work was original in the true sense of the word, and as such commended itself to the intelligent seeker after the really artistic things of the Exhibition. Wonderful talent was employed in producing the magnificent pieces of furniture displayed".
Linke's stand would have appeared refreshingly new to contemporary onlookers, the traditional designs of the eighteenth century melting seamlessly into an exuberant naturalism. The 'Revue' described Linke's style as 'entièrement nouveaux' and noted "This opinion is universally accepted. Linke's stand is the biggest show in the history of art furniture in the year 1900". It is perhaps the most extraordinary and remarkable aspect of Linke’s personal history that he produced such expensive and luxurious furniture of exquisite quality for the 1900 exhibition without any commission or any potential buyer in mind. [9] At a time when other more established furniture businesses such as those of Beurdeley and Dasson were closing down, he made a huge investment in his stand and the furniture he supplied for it. Linke recognised that to move his business forward he needed to appeal to a more International clientele and the new emerging rich who were at this time amassing fortunes on an unprecedented scale. For this reason he gambled everything he had on his display for the 1900 exhibition. Had this not succeeded he would almost certainly have succumbed to bankruptcy. Linke’s notebook records visitors to his stand from England, Europe, the Americas, Egypt and Japan and including; the King of Sweden, three visits from the King of Belgium, Prince Radziwill, the Prince d’Arenberg, the Comte Alberic du Chastel, Miss Anna May Gould, the American heiress, distinguished furniture makers and the President of France Emile Loubet.
This risky endeavour was a resounding success, and with his reputation established, La Maison Linke became the pre-eminent furniture house until outset of the Second World War. The technical brilliance of his work and the artistic change that it represented was never to be repeated. His showrooms expanded into prestigious premises in Paris, in the Place Vendôme as well as the Faubourg St. Antoine where his workshop had been established. He embarked on many important commissions in the years up to the outbreak of the First World War, making and designing furniture for leading international industrialists and bankers. After the 1914-1918 World War, Linke undertook the extraordinary commission to furnish the Ras al-Tin Palace in Alexandria for King Fuad of Egypt, possibly the largest single furniture commission ever conceived, eclipsing even Versailles. Linke flourished and remained active until the middle years of the 1930s and died in 1946
Léon Messagé (1842-1901) was a French sculptor, best known for his sculptural collaboration with François Linke for the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Messagé was also responsible for much of the design and creative work for Roux et Brunet...
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A superb quality palatial French Louis XVI style ormolu mounted, satinwood, kingwood parquetry and Vernis Martin style paneling three-door raised Vitrine Display Cabinet attributed to Paul Sormani (1817-1877).
The Vernis Martin Panels signed "V. Gossen." The lower part of the cabinet with three frieze drawers supported by two square-sectioned on tapered legs, fronting an ormolu mounted parquetry back panel, on toupie feet. The ormolu stamped with the initials "P.S." on the reverse. Circa: Paris, 1870.
Height: 101 inches (256.5 cm).
Width: 56 inches (142.2 cm).
Depth: 20 inches (50.8 cm).
Sormani, Paul (1817-1877): Born in Venice, Paul Sormani set up in Paris in the middle of the 19th century. He specialized in creating furniture and works of art and was known for his high quality reproductions of Louis XV and XVI furniture...
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19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Bronze
H 101 in W 56 in D 20 in
Previously Available Items
Excellent Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Vitrine by Joseph Zwiener
By Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in New York, NY
An excellent late 19th century Louis XV style gilt bronze mounted vitrine by Joseph Zwiener
Joseph Zwiener
The serpentine-shaped brèche d’ alep marble top above a single center...
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Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Marble, Bronze
H 65.5 in W 27 in D 15.5 in
19th Century Rococo Vitrine by Linke and Zwiener
By François Linke, Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in New Orleans, LA
This spectacular vitrine is the product of an exceptional collaboration between Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener and François Linke, two of the most respected and talented ébénistes of the late 19th century. Known for their elaborate interpretations of the rococo, this vitrine is hallmarked by the robust doré bronze mounts and richly grained kingwood both craftsmen employed in their imaginative works. In terms of artistry, size and condition, this vitrine serves as a testament to the incomparable skills of the finest furniture makers of the 19th century and the time-honored trade of the ébéniste.
Signed ‘F. Linke.’
Circa 1890
43 1/2” wide x 17 1/2” deep x 59” high
Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener and François Linke both enjoyed successful careers as the premier Parisian cabinetmakers, or ébénistes, of the late 19th century. Their awe-inspiring works commanded the attention of the judges of the Paris Exposition Universelle, both winning gold medals for their adaptations of the complex rococo. Linke almost certainly studied under Zwiener, who was six years his elder and a fellow German speaker...
Category
19th Century French Rococo Antique Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Vitrines
Materials
Bronze
Joseph-emmanuel Zwiener vitrines for sale on 1stDibs.
Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener vitrines are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener vitrines, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original vitrines by Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener were created in the Louis XVI style in france during the 19th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider vitrines by François Linke, and Paul Sormani. Prices for Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener vitrines can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $17,500 and can go as high as $235,373, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $93,174.