Silvered Bronze Faux-Bamboo Magazine Rack with Blue Glass Panels by Maison Baguès

A magazine rack of remarkable delicacy, constructed entirely in silvered bronze fashioned to imitate bamboo — a technique that became one of the most recognizable hallmarks of the Maison Baguès workshops. The faux-bamboo rods, finely chased and articulated, form the light, rhythmic structure of the piece, while the two side panels in bluish-tinted glass diffuse a soft, hazy luminosity. The silvery tone of the metal lends the whole a cool, precious elegance wholly characteristic of the Parisian taste of the 1940s for the marriage of noble materials.

Maison Baguès, founded in Paris in the nineteenth century, was one of the great Parisian bronze foundries and decorative lighting manufacturers. Its workshops achieved an unrivalled mastery of bronze-casting, chasing, and gilding techniques, producing everything from monumental chandeliers to display furniture and decorative accessories of the highest order. The house served as a principal supplier to Maison Jansen and other eminent Parisian decorators. The faux-bamboo motif in gilded or silvered bronze — rooted in the Japonisme so dear to nineteenth-century French taste — became one of the firm's most iconic signatures, applied to furniture, lighting, and decorative objects alike.

A testament to the excellence of Parisian bronzework of the 1940s, this magazine rack illustrates the Baguès workshops' ability to produce pieces of extraordinary formal refinement. Works bearing the Baguès name are today avidly sought by collectors and interior decorators worldwide for their impeccable craftsmanship and unmistakable character. Both functional and sculptural, this piece will find its place naturally in any interior of distinction, serving at once as decorative sculpture and elegant occasional furniture.