Art Nouveau Display Cabinet from Georges Hoentschel

Display Cabinet From Georges Hoentschel
Brasswork by Frank Scheidecker
Circa 1902

This extraordinary Art Nouveau display cabinet, conceived under the direction of renowned French decorator Georges Hoentschel, is a singular work of art created for display at the 1902 Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Uniting curvilinear structure and delicate natural motifs, the masterpiece presents as an indoor greenhouse, beautifully rendered in sculpted, ribbed and stained plane tree with glazed upper panels and arching lines reminiscent of flowering branches. Its exceptional brass ornamentation and pierced base tray, executed by Frank Scheidecker, depicts cascading wisteria and koi fish, transforming the structure into a luminous, botanical tableau.

The framework rests on vegetal-form feet and culminates in decorative arches. Each panel is glazed and framed in undulating wood, while Scheidecker's finely cut wisteria flourishes across the upper glass panels. Its presence remains deeply evocative of the period's artistic ambitions, a fusion of function and fantasy at the height of Art Nouveau artistry.

This cabinet exemplifies the visionary approach of Georges Hoentschel, a Parisian decorator, collector, architect and ceramist whose life and career unfolded during a time of dramatic social and cultural transformation in France. As head of the renowned furnishing firm Maison Leys, Hoentschel employed over 50 craftsmen and served an elite international clientele that included J.P. Morgan, Jacques Doucet and the Emperor of Japan. Hoentschel did not produce the works himself but shaped the creative vision that inspired his skilled artisans. His innovative aesthetic earned him a central role in promoting French decorative arts during the Belle Époque.

Following the upheavals of the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune, the newly established Third Republic witnessed a renewed interest in eighteenth-century art and historic French styles. Hoentschel capitalized on this trend with his encyclopedic knowledge of decorative arts and an extensive archive of period models, furniture and architectural fragments. He exported French taste to a global stage through his participation in World’s Fairs and prestigious commissions. Similar botanical and architectural elements to those in this cabinet were showcased in Hoentschel’s celebrated “Salle du Bois” at the 1900 Paris Exposition and again at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair—two of his career's defining achievements. He also played a key role in the early plans for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre, designing the pavilion of the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs for the Paris fair.

Documented in multiple landmark exhibitions, including Tokyo’s 1968 L’Art Nouveau and Sarah Bernhardt at the Espace Pierre Cardin in 1976, this display cabinet is one of the rare surviving objects to embody both Hoentschel’s artistic ambition and the Belle Époque’s decorative spirit. It stands not only as a functional object but as a sculptural expression of a moment when nature, craftsmanship and the avant-garde were beautifully intertwined.

Exhibited:
Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1902, Catalogue no. 206
Exposition L'Art Nouveau, Seibu de Shibuya, Tokyo, November 4-23, 1968, Catalogue no. 78
Sarah Bernhardt, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, March 1976, Catalogue pp. 48-49

Literature:
A. Guérinet, Decorative Art at the Fine Arts Exhibitions 1902: Society of French Artists, National Society of Fine Arts, Private Exhibitions, 3rd Series, Furniture, Librairie d’Art Décoratif, Paris, 1902, plate 27 (illustrated)
L. Baschet, Illustrated Catalogue of the 1902 Salon: National Society of Fine Arts, Librairie d’Art, Paris, 1902, cat. no. 206, p. LXI
A. Duncan, The Paris Salons, 1895–1914, Vol. III: Furniture, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1999, p. 502 (illustrated)
N. Hoentschel, V. Bouvet, F. Chapon, M. Hayot, J. Parker, J. Soustiel and D. W. Wright, Georges Hoentschel, 1855–1915, Éditions Monelle Hayot, Saint-Rémy-en-l’Eau, 1999, p. 67 (illustrated)