Antiques and Art Deco pieces for the serious collector and the true connoisseur.

The 16th Century

Many new ideas originated in the fourteenth century in Venice, during the period of the international Gothic style and after this trading town discovered the Far East. This trend continued in the following century, particularly in Florence in Tuscany. From the early fifteenth century through the late sixteenth century, the Italian Renaissance offered a new style based primarily on two concepts: the revival of the ornamental vocabulary of Antiquity and the discovery of perspective. The latter would become the foundation of an innovative architectural and decorative style free from of any trace...

The 17th Century

The expansion of the Baroque style was linked to the Catholic church and its policy of using art as a vehicle for religion and as an expression of the sublimation of the Catholic faith. Extravagance, the essential characteristic of the Baroque style, was the reason this style was so quickly adopted by the European courts, as well as by their recently acquired American colonies and the Calvinist courts of the Netherlands and Germany, the ultimate aim of the operation. This was a period during which styles from the East began to influence artistic milieux. Rare porcelains, Chinese screens and...

The 18th Century

In the eighteenth century, French ornamentalists, architects, cabinetmakers, draftsmen and decorators, fueled by their desire to move away from the rigorous formality and grandeur of the Sun King, started to develop new styles. The sacrosanct symmetry of the seventeenth century was quickly abandoned. Asymmetry, sinous forms and S-shaped curves appeared everywhere, along with sumptuous marquetry pieces. Talented cabinetmakers in England began to see their own original styles. In Italy, Spain and Germany, the elegant and refined Rococo style that reigned in France was trnasformed into a flashy,...

The 19th Century

At the beginning of the century, Napoleon Bonaparte was leading France toward a new world. Once proclaimed emperor, Napoleon overturned the ancien regime and established new regimes throughout most of the countries of Europe. In order to convey his new order, Napoleon needed a style that could also function as a powerful propaganda tool. He called on designers to create the Empire style based on the ancient Greek and Roman stylistic vocabulary, adding a typically Napoleonic element: a fondness for all things Egyptian. This was the beginning of the Empire style, which had a profound influence...

The 20th Century

This century ushered in a new era of innovation as the modern style swept through Europe. Any element that recalled past styles was banished, especially at the turn of the century. Although World War I put a brutal stop to the inventive spirit of the modern style, it wad only a temporary hiatus, and a new burst of creative activity occurred as soon as the war was over. In 1919, Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany. This was an experimental design school that acted as a catalyst for the Art Deco style and functionalism. Developed just after the deprivations and tragedies of...