Overview
An exceptionally fine and rare French bonheur du jour in kingwood with Vernis Martin painted panels, ormolu mounts throughout, and birdseye maple interior linings. French, 19th century - Napoleon III period, circa 1860–1880, in the Louis XVI taste. A piece of this decorative quality and completeness is seldom encountered - the combination of superb kingwood veneers, richly painted Vernis Martin panels, and well-cast ormolu mounts places this firmly in the upper tier of nineteenth-century French cabinet-making.
Key Features
- Napoleon III period, circa 1860–1880 - Louis XVI taste
- Kingwood veneers quarter-cut in herringbone pattern throughout
- Central arched cupboard door with Vernis Martin pastoral scene - lady with dog beneath a tree
- Birdseye maple interior lining with two adjustable shelves
- Two side drawers with hand-painted floral panels and original gilt brass knob handles
- Pull-out secretaire drawer lined in blue baize writing surface
- Pierced gilt brass gallery to the superstructure
- Ormolu mounts throughout - foliate rosettes, scrolled corner mounts, and cabriole sabot feet
Craftsmanship & Detail
The upper superstructure is surmounted by a pierced gilt brass gallery, with ormolu foliate rosette mounts to the upper corners. The central arched cupboard door is painted in the Vernis Martin manner - a pastoral scene executed on the characteristic warm golden ground associated with the finest examples of this technique. The aged craquelure to the painted surface is consistent with genuine age and a mark of authenticity. The frieze drawer to the front is painted with a charming scene of putti flanking a central ormolu cartouche mount. Throughout, the kingwood veneers are quarter-cut and laid in a herringbone pattern, producing the characteristic warm figuring typical of the finest Second Empire and Napoleon III period pieces. The Vernis Martin technique - a lacquer-painting process developed in eighteenth-century France by the Martin brothers and widely revived during the Second Empire — is here applied with considerable skill and artistic ambition.
