Page 176 - Collecting and Displaying China's Summer Palace in the West

Yuanmingyuan on Display 161
vases flanking the grand vitrine, and a spectacular chandelier hanging in the centre. 51
(see Figures 10.1 and 10.3) The altar vessels are richly ornamented in blues and
yellows, with dragons, chrysanthemums, and curling vine scrolls in the enamel
and lotus and ancient tao tie motifs in the gilt trim (see Figure 10.4). They were
trans formed by adding ormolu branches made by the bronze craftsman Ferdinand
Barbedienne (1810–1892), who led a large company specializing in copying statues
and creating decorative arts and furniture in revivalist styles. 52 The ormolu gilding
technique was similar in France and China (as was cloisonné itself), and Barbedienne
matched the color of the Chinese gilding closely. And while the branching arms follow
a typical European form, they’re embellished with scrolling leaves that are common
throughout Chinese decorative art and that specifically echo the branching flame
licks surrounding the vases’ dragons. On each candle socket, furthermore, is a heavily
stylized Chinese character shou in blue. Variations of this character, meaning lon -
gevity, were common in Chinese ornament; this precise example must have been
53
copied from a precise Chinese source. Barbedienne apparently did not manufacture
non-Western designs, but his 1892 estate sale of Asian art lists 50 examples of Chinese
cloisonné and 210 fine examples of Chinese porcelain, jade, agate, and other materials,
some with imperial reign marks. 54 A man capable of building such a collection surely
based his candelabra design on authentic Chinese techniques and patterns. So while
the conversion of the vessels subverted their function and meaning, it was done in a
spirit of mutual artistic respect.
Barbedienne’s chandelier involved exceptionally inventive and elaborate work (see
Figures 10.1 and 10.3). Matching the overall form of other palace chandeliers, with
a thick long central stem ending in fish hook curves, it was however composed
from a Chinese vase mounted inside the inverted lid of a Chinese incense burner.
These were fitted with four sets of ormolu branches matching the candelabra;
embellished with blue-and-gold imitation Chinese latticework; and encased above
by 16 gilt copper chains draped with medallions and tassels. The lid matches the
square incense burner on the floor, but was given extra gilt trim and a different
finial matching the hexagonal burners. Inventory records show an oil lamp was
installed inside the vase with a crystal chimney supporting a crystal globe etched in
gold with dragons and flames (visible in Figure 10.3). 55 Similar globes—variations
on an 1855 design by Barbedienne—were attached to 14 small bronze and cloisonné
vessels purchased from Malinet to make lamps; these were spread around the room
on black wooden sconces carved with rectangular scrolls and animal motifs resem -
bling those on the square incense burners (one is visible above the bronze dragon in
Figure 10.3). 56 These globes pick up the dragon and flame motifs on the cloisonné
altar set, reinforcing the imperial symbolism and adding to the general effect of
dynamic movement and energy created by both the cloisonné patterns and ormolu
branches.
Viewed from a modern museological perspective, this chandelier is an abomination,
sacrilegiously dismantling religious utensils, mixing real and fake Chinese designs,
and hanging the whole kitschy extravaganza from the ceiling, piercing a holy tapestry
in the process. But this was not a museum in the modern sense and shows an entirely
different purpose of display. Like the pagodas Eugénie saw at Buckingham Palace,
the chandelier was a kind of appropriation art; 57 it used original Chinese parts to
create something new, something that would be inspired by Chinese symbols and
aesthetics, that would demonstrate French craftsmen’s ability to match their Chinese