Antiquaire

A modern vision on today’s antiquaire

For more than half a century, the Axel Vervoordt Company’s relationship with art and antiques has been a way to share our experiences of the world. We believe the best way to full inhabit a space is by being surrounded by architecture, furniture, art, and objects that are represented by the honesty of their materials and the purity of intent in their creation.

Jacques Chirac at Axel Vervoordt's booth at the 1984 Biennale des Antiquaires de Paris

The way one looks at things is of the utmost importance. Seeing is feeling with the eyes.

This large sculpture of Buddha Amithaba is seated in the vajrasana posture, deep in meditation. The harmony of his perfect proportions and the graciousness of his physical form represent one of the many qualities or powers of a Buddha. This poised appearance describes the ideal picture of a Heavenly Body that is not subject to change or decay.

Renowned for his precise and impressionist rendering of the elegance of “la Belle Epoque", Paul César Helleu expresses all the spontaneity of a happy family life in this wildly sketched and colored study. His beautiful wife Alice and his three children Ellen, Jean and Paulette were his favourite models, which may explain the intimacy emanating so often from their portraits.

Models of Ancient Greek and Roman buildings are associated with the concept of the 'Grand Tour'. From the late seventeenth until well into the nineteenth century, the education of a young European aristocrat could not be considered complete unless he had undertaken a 'Grand Tour', a journey to the preeminent cultural sites of southern Europe, in particular Italy. The models served not only as souvenirs but were also the first plastic examples for scholars unable to travel to Italy or Greece, who previously had only books and paintings to study with.

This superb head, slightly over life-size, represents one of the oldest and most important, yet at the same time least known deities of the Egyptian pantheon: Min, the god of fertility and fecundity. Despite its damaged state, however, the head continues to emanate an overpowering aura of divinity, accomplished by the sculptor's extraordinary skill and sensitivity. It almost certainly belonged to a temple statue.

The Frank Wlasek collection, created by José Zanine Caldas in the late 1960s, contains the largest amount of custom-made furniture and sculptures by the architect-designer ever to be seen, and which has been kept together to this day. More than 30 pieces make up this collection, ranging from monumental dining tables made out of entire tree trunks or roots of tropical salvaged hardwood, large series of Caldas' well-known trunk chairs and several masterpieces of sculpture.

Old Kingdom reliefs set the stylistic standards for centuries to come. In addition, they reveal much about what defined the society that created them: a sincere appreciation for human existence and its many delights, a deep reverence for the gods and the pharaoh, and above all else an unwavering faith in the promises of the afterlife. Shown here is an intriguing fragment of such a relief, showing the nobleman Isi and his wife Rekhti, together with their children.

Relief fragment of Isi and Rekhti, Old Kingdom, Vth Dynasty, reign of Unas, ca. 2375 - 2345 B.C., Limestone, Egypt

This slate torso wears a tightly-clinging monastic robe, revealing the contours of an apparently sexless body. The aesthetic qualities of this torso are derived from the harmonious balance of volumes, the beautiful contours and the fine stone surface. The image of the Buddha or "The Enlightened One" expresses serene quiescence. The harmony of his perfect proportions and the graciousness of his physical form represent one of the many qualities or powers of a Buddha.

A left foot clad in a tight open toe boot is firmly planted on the rough surface of the statue's base. The meticulous sense of detail and adept modelling of both the human flesh and leather texture of the boot indicate this was the work of a highly skilled sculptor.

The delicately carved torso presents an idealized depiction of the upper body of a man. This type of representation is characteristic for the Ptolemaic Period, when anatomical features were generalized in order to be easily recognizable. Details of the human body are alluded to rather than elaborated, and the plastic qualities of the human flesh are often ignored, with arms and legs presenting the same appearance, whether they are held straight or flexed. The only indication of musculature in this sculpture is the slight curvature of the pectorals.

This whetstone gained its beautiful and markedly contemporary shape as well as its highly polished surface through years and years of repetitive use. The size indicates that it was used by a sedentary farming society, as it is far too large and heavy to be carried around by hunter-gatherers.