Eugène Cornu (?-1875), Tripod Pedestal In Polychrome Bronze And Onyx, 19th

Eugene Cornu (?-1875)
Ceremonial table
Polychrome bronze and onyx
19th

Spectacular pedestal in bronze with brown patina, gilt, silver and galvanized with lion head decoration, acanthus leaf, shell, pine cone, rose window, and ivy. The circular table top in Algerian onyx covered with ivy and surrounded by a frieze with double patina, rests on a tripod foot base with claw and a spacer surmounted by an onyx toupie decorated with pearls and a bronze flame.

Eugène Cornu is a French sculptor and bronzer, whose date of birth is unknown, died in 1875. He first worked as a draughtsman and then took over the work of the Maison Tahan. In 1858, he became the creator and director of the Company of Marbles and Onyx of Algeria of A.Pallu & Co. Then Gustave Viot will become owner of these mines and Eugène Cornu will continue to collaborate within the Company. They will develop luxurious articles mixing onyx, bronze and champlevées enamels, until it bears its name: "Société des Onyx d'Algérie E. Cornu et Cie".  The company will also produce works based on models by Albert Carrier-Belleuse, Charles Cordier and Louis-Alfred Barrias.  After his death in 1875, the company will be taken over by H. Journet, and the onyx mines in the region of Oran will continue to be exploited until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Eugène Cornu participated in many Universal Exhibitions, those of 1862, 1871, 1872 in London and that of 1867 in Paris. At the latter, he will be honored with a gold medal for an impressive pair of vases in onyx, bronze and enamel (signed G. Viot et Cie, 1867 Exhibition, Eugène Cornu Inventor).