A PATINATED BRONZE PICTURE FRAME, CIRCA 1906

This picture frame is thought to have been commissioned by the proprietors of the Raphel Carbonel perfumeries in 1906, and retains three hand-detailed photographs printed on panels of enameled copper, each signed on the back Paul Darby, one also Boulevard Strasbourg, Paris. The lower of the three shows a view of the town of Vallauris in Provence, which like neighboring Le Cannet and Grasse, was known for the production of perfume. The view includes on the left the Carbonel perfumeries, and the two portraits are believed to depict the factory's proprietors. Of the few objects for personal use that are known from Guimard's early career, a number of them relate to the perfume industry, Guimard having for the Paris Exposition in 1900 been commissioned by the perfumer F. Millot to design their pavilion, as well as their cologne bottles which were produced industrially. cf. Musee d'Orsay, Guimard, Paris, 1992, p.372 for a comparable though slightly later example in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York