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Description:
This antique, solid walnut cabinet is comprised of two pieces, a top and bottom (bahut deux corps). The top and bottom sections each have a single door with its own key. The bottom portion contains a drawer and the top portion has a pull-out writing surface. Both doors are hand-carved, bas relief, with the top door having a woman’s head in profile and the bottom door a man’s head. Rather than being the likenesses of the original owners of the cabinet, they are more likely idealized portraits in faithful adherence to Renaissance iconography, as was common in the 19th century French style known as Henri II. Such portraits on furniture were inspired during the Italian Renaissance by coins bearing the portraits of important figures, in profile. The intricate carving on the doors and drawer reflect traditional foliage scrolls and arabesques drawn from engravings and pattern books of the period. When this cabinet was made in the 19th century, there was a cornice or similar piece above the top section but this has been lost to history.
Boccador, Jacqueline, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, Editions d’Art Monelle Hayot (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988); Quette, Anne-Marie, Le Mobilier Français Louis XIII et Louis XIV (Editions Massin, Paris, 1996)
Owing to its diminutive size, the cabinet is an ideal occasional piece in a living room, dining room, foyer, or at the top of a staircase. With its pull-out writing surface, it is also ideal for a library or office.
For more information, visit M. Markley Antiques on the Web -- the premier resource in the U.S. for French Gothic Revival and Renaissance Revival furniture, including Henri II and Louis XIII styles.
| Status: For Sale |
Reference#: 10160 |
| Condition:
Very good |
Year:
Circa 1880
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| Country:
France |
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| Height:
65 in. (165.10 cm) |
Depth:
17.5 in. (44.45 cm) |
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Width: 26.5 in. (67.31 cm)
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| Style:
Henri II |
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| Materials:
Solid walnut |
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