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Inkstand
Attributed to: Alexis Decaix (French, born in 1811)
English
1803
Medium/Technique
Gilt and patinated bronze; wood
Dimensions
Length x width: 31.8 x 26.7 cm (12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Horace Wood Brock
Accession Number2010.1039
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsDecorative arts
DescriptionThis inkstand stand belongs to a group associated with the leading bronze-mount manufacturer of the Georgian era, Alexis Decaix. It is closely related to a yew-wood version acquired by the Prince of Wales, later George IV.
The design of the mounts has strong affinities with the engravings illustrated in Thomas Hope's seminal publication, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807), which includes the introductory reference:
`Throughout this vast metropolis, teeming as it does with artificers and tradesman I have, after the most laborious search, only been able to find...(one man)...to whose industry and talent I could ...confide the execution of the more enriched portion of my designs: namely Decaix...a bronzist and native of France...'
The design of the mounts has strong affinities with the engravings illustrated in Thomas Hope's seminal publication, Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807), which includes the introductory reference:
`Throughout this vast metropolis, teeming as it does with artificers and tradesman I have, after the most laborious search, only been able to find...(one man)...to whose industry and talent I could ...confide the execution of the more enriched portion of my designs: namely Decaix...a bronzist and native of France...'
ProvenanceLate 1980s, H. Blairman and Sons, London. Acquired on the London art market by Horace Wood Brock, New York; 2010, year-end gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 26, 2011)