Lot n° 219
Estimation :
8000 - 15000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 23 400EUR
- Lot 219
Important cabinet in ebony and/or blackened wood engraved, guilloche and carved in bas-relief; the exterior presents on the upper part a frieze with three scenes of warriors after battles; the two doors centered with octagonal panels representing scenes from the life of Alexander; the corners with spandrels representing the Seasons or allegories, among which those of justice and the Navy. These two doors reveal an interior with twelve drawers engraved with large flowery scrolls framing two leaves concealing a rich interior architecturally designed in perspectives enhanced with mirrors; in the center a painting representing a young woman holding a bouquet, in the background a garden and a castle. It rests on its base with belt comprising two drawers underlined by scalloped aprons; the amounts with twelve twisted columns and rings joined by a shelf; turned feet.
The plates of the entrances of the locks with radiating patterns and lambrequins marked "M. D...Tre/Dijon".
Louis XIII period (restoration of use; locks changed).
This type of cabinet, with its original and highly architectural composition, known as the "ebony cabinet", marks the true birth of Parisian cabinet making. It is in the decades around the middle of the XVIIth century, under Louis XIII, that most of the known examples are realized, sometimes the accent is put on the sculpted decoration, more or less exuberant, among the inlaid decoration of the theater whose mirrors games reflect the motives and the colorations of the wood species, however, all these ebony cabinets have common characteristics studied by Daniel Alcouffe, notably, they all open with a two-leaf front and rest on matching bases, the interior is divided into drawers framing two small doors concealing the theater, finally, the upper part of the base offers a belt also presenting drawers (see D. Alcouffe, "La naissance de l'ébénisterie: les cabinets d'ébène", in the catalog of the exhibition Un temps d'exubérance. Les arts décoratifs sous Louis XIII et Anne d'Autriche, Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 2002, RMN, Paris, p. 212-217).
Among the known examples of ebony cabinets from the same period and made in the same spirit as the one we propose, let us mention in particular: a first model, decorated with scenes inspired by Jean Ogier de Gombauld's Endymion, a novel published in 1624, which is part of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London [inv. 1651:1-3-1856]; as well as two other models which are illustrated in M. Riccardi-Cubitt, Un Art européen: Le Cabinet de la Renaissance à l'époque moderne, Les éditions de l'amateur, 1993, p. 192-193; finally, let us mention a last cabinet of this type, similar in composition to the one we are presenting, which is preserved in the National History Museum of Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, Denmark [inv. B 511].
H: 193 - W: 170 - D: 56 cm MODIFICATION: The base is associated with the model with old elements
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