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THE HARE TEAPOT A RARE FRENCH SILVER-PLATED TEAPOT MARK OF CHRISTOFLE, PARIS, 1879, DESIGNED BY EMILE REIBER (1826-1893) After a Meiji period bronze teapot, shaped as a hare, the bamboo-shaped swing handle with ivory insulators, the detachable cover with ball finial, stamped on reverse and with workshop number 1033514 10 in. (25.5 cm.) long
This zoomorphic teapot was designed by the architect and designer Emile Reiber (1826-1893) after a Japanese bronze (Paris, Inv. M.C. 1081) from the collection of Henri Cernuschi (1821-1896). He was a wealthy Italian banker based in Paris, who had assembled during his travels in the Far East an important collection of fine art. On his return in 1873, Cernushi presented his collection at the Exposition Orientale and then at the Palais de l’Industrie for the first Congrès International des Orientalistes from August 1873 to January 1874. The collection was a revelation for the French public, including Emile Reiber who spent many days drawing the works of art. Reiber published his drawings in 1877 in Propagande artistique du Muse′e-Reiber. Le Premier volume des albums-Reiber, bibliothe'que portative des arts du dessin. These sketches inspired him to create pieces such as the Carp Vase in 1873, the Iris Vase in 1874 and the Hare Teapot in 1875, using the technical capabilities of Christofle where he had been head of the design workshop since 1865. His creations proved very popular. The growing interest in ‘japonisme’ had started in the 1860s with the import of Japanese works of art following the Meiji restoration. Their exceptional quality led Lucien Falize, another advocate of the Far East, to describe Reiber as the ‘father of Japonism’. A similar teapot, dated circa 1882, is in the collection of Musée d’Orsay, Paris, (OAO 1012). Christie's is grateful to Anne Gros, curator of the Christofle Collection, for her help in dating this teapot.