L'Escalier de Cristal Japanese planter France Circa...

L'Escalier de Cristal Japanese planter France Circa 1880 Glazed ceramic, Gilded bronze Height 25 cm; Diam. 28 cm Rare round planter in enameled ceramic with polychrome floral and plant decoration on a celestial blue background. Beautiful chased and gilded bronze mounting with an openwork frieze of Fô dogs forming the handles; the whole resting on four elephant heads with inverted trunks. Biography L'Escalier de Cristal, an old and famous Parisian firm specializing in ceramics and glassware, but also offering furniture, art bronzes and furnishings, was taken over from 1885 - until 1923 - by Emile Pannier's sons, who formed Pannier Frères, at the corner of rue Scribe and rue Auber, next to the new Opéra. Their Far Eastern-inspired creations were greatly appreciated by the public and critics alike. The company won numerous awards and medals at various exhibitions, including the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. In the field of furniture influenced by the Far East, Majorelle de Nancy, Edouard Lièvre and Gabriel Viardot also contributed to the success of the Pannier brothers. Some of their works can be seen in major museums such as the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Musée d'Orsay and the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. As the company was sometimes the exclusive owner of the models, these pieces of furniture and decorative objects were often signed only by l'Escalier de Cristal , sometimes alongside the artist's signature. L'Escalier Cristal also played a genuine creative role, personalizing these pieces with superb gilded bronzes, cloisonné enamel plates, Japanese-style glass plates and authentic Japanese elements.