Lot Essay
A cabinet of similar conformation inlaid in pewter on an amaranth ground is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and is dated circa 1680 (Chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1985, p. 42)
OBJECTS OF ART AND FURNITURE
A LOUIS XIV BOULLE AND EBONY CABINET EN ARMOIRE
Details
A LOUIS XIV BOULLE AND EBONY CABINET EN ARMOIRE
Inlaid in contre-partie marquetry with brass, pewter and brown tortoiseshell, in two sections, inlaid overall with scrolling foliage and strapwork, the upper section with moulded breakfront cornice above a frieze inlaid with roundels each engraved with alternating portrait busts and musical and martial trophies centred by an oval with three fleur-de-lys below a closed crown, the central door inlaid with caryatids headed by foliate urns flanking a portrait roundel, enclosing a fitted interior inlaid with foliate marquetry and strapwork and with one long drawer, two short drawers and six further short drawers, around a mirrored section, above one further drawer and flanked by ten short drawers each with raised hexagonal panel engraved with scrolling foliage and strapwork, the corners with cornucopiae, enclosing a marquetry interior with one shelf and on block feet, the top section with later back, the interior now fixed, with later frame and modifications, possibly German
57in. (145cm.) wide; 86½in. (220cm.) high; 23½in. (60cm.) deep
Inlaid in contre-partie marquetry with brass, pewter and brown tortoiseshell, in two sections, inlaid overall with scrolling foliage and strapwork, the upper section with moulded breakfront cornice above a frieze inlaid with roundels each engraved with alternating portrait busts and musical and martial trophies centred by an oval with three fleur-de-lys below a closed crown, the central door inlaid with caryatids headed by foliate urns flanking a portrait roundel, enclosing a fitted interior inlaid with foliate marquetry and strapwork and with one long drawer, two short drawers and six further short drawers, around a mirrored section, above one further drawer and flanked by ten short drawers each with raised hexagonal panel engraved with scrolling foliage and strapwork, the corners with cornucopiae, enclosing a marquetry interior with one shelf and on block feet, the top section with later back, the interior now fixed, with later frame and modifications, possibly German
57in. (145cm.) wide; 86½in. (220cm.) high; 23½in. (60cm.) deep