Lot 50
50
A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU-MOUNTED CUT-BRASS-INLAID TORTOISESHELL AND EBONY 'BOULLE' CABINET
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more
A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU-MOUNTED CUT-BRASS-INLAID TORTOISESHELL AND EBONY 'BOULLE' CABINET

THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU-MOUNTED CUT-BRASS-INLAID TORTOISESHELL AND EBONY 'BOULLE' CABINET
THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Inlaid overall with Bérainesque arabesques and grotesques en première partie, surmounted by a stepped breakfront pediment above a cupboard door, applied with a raised tablet centred by an Apollo mask beneath a cameo of Louis XIV and corner mounts signed to the reverse HPR, enclosing four drawers with geometric walnut and red tortoiseshell veneers, flanked to each side by three drawers, above a waisted socle, the lower central door mounted with a pierced ribbon-tied cartouche with seated figure of Urania, the canted angles supporting corbels headed by winged sphinxes and terminating in lion-paws, on capped toupie feet
84¾ in. (215.5 cm.) high; 65 in. (165 cm.) wide; 24¼ in. (61.5 cm.) deep
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Although not directly after a model this most impressive cabinet borrows heavily from stylistic oeuvre of André-Charles Boulle (d. 1732), ébéniste, ciseleur, doreur et sculpteur du Roi from 1672. The winged-caryatids to the corners are the most striking similarity, being copied from a pair of commodes made by Boulle in 1708-09 for Louis XIV's bedchamber at the Palais de Trianon, now the Grand Trianon, and since transferred to Versailles. A further similarity is the use of tightly-scrolled grotesques and arabesque inlays which are in the manner of Boulle's affiliate, the designer Jean Bérain. The handles and medallion of Louis XIV framed within a trophy are also modelled on mounts produced by Boulle's atelier , whilst the ribbon-tied cartouche depicting a seated figure of Urania is closer to the work of his follower, Étienne Levasseur (d. 1766).

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