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Exquisite Nineteenth-Century French Table: A New Acquisition

Designed by the important French architect Jacques-Ignace Hittorff and manufactured by the company Hachettte & Cie., this enamel-on-lava table is decorated with exquisitely painted exotic birds and butterflies, and flowers. The delicate and skilled workmanship required to paint on the porous lava ground, quarried from the Comte de Chabrol de Volvic's lava mines, is extraordinary. The table exhibits many of the prominent themes of Western art of the second quarter of the 19th century: the search for exotic materials; a curiosity in technological advancements; and the pursuit of unusual and striking examples of plants and animals from the natural world. Production and collection of luxury goods were also hallmarks of the early 19th century, especially in France where the government zealously promoted existing French industries and encouraged the development of new industries.

For More Information or Images Please Contact the Chrysler at (757) 664-6200 or museum@chrysler.org

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