A French Art Nouveau Japonisme Heron Floor Lamp

Made in the Art Nouveau period and with strong Japonese influence this floor lamp was made in France in the early 20th century and features prominently a metal sculpture of a heron. The piece is made from patinated and painted brass and bronze, and depicts a heron, or a Japenese crane, wading in amongst a small flowering plant, and picking at flowers, which are fitted for electricity and have mountings for lamps. After the Meiji period in which Japan was opened up to the Western world, many artistic traditions took inspiration from this new eastern source, and the Japonisme movement in France was one such phenomenon, also influenced by the Art Nouveau period. This piece is a fine example of such work.