Applied Arts
The Industrial Revolution generated collaborations between artists and manufacturers. Lamps, seals, cups, inkwells, clocks and other furnishing accessories become works of art in everyday life. Of course, given his mythical status, Beethoven, the art subject, erupted into the homes of art and music lovers. Such masterpieces are no longer produced and have become very rare and much sought after by collectors, having been replaced by cheap, industrial gadgets.
The Carrino Collection includes pieces of extraordinary historical interest. For example, the inkwell from the Susse Fres company in Paris, with a bust of Beethoven signed Fernkorn and Preleunther from 1843, was made at a time when no monument to the composer existed. Other works can be appreciated for the quality of their details. These include a magnificent Beethoven-themed seal with matrix, and a hand-painted spoon with a portrait of Beethoven and an image of his birthplace!
The collection of table lamps is outstanding. Georges Raoul Garreau’s gilded bronze Art Deco lamp is extremely elegant and the Italian design lamp from the 1970s is sublime when lit.
It is a world full of details, such as the clock that has stopped at the time of his death in the sculpture of Beethoven seated by Albert Dominique Rosé, or the inkwell by the Wiener Bronze Manifaktur: when it opens, the laurel wreath on the composer’s head lifts. This irreverence is easily remedied by closing the jar, when once again the wreath is lowered onto the maestro’s head…
