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A Louis XIV style ormolu-mounted cut-brass-inlaid tortoiseshell, ebony and ebonised 'Boulle' low armoire

AFTER THE MODEL BY ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE, BY MATHIEU BEFORT, DIT BEFORT JEUNE, MID-19TH CENTURY

Details

A Louis XIV style ormolu-mounted cut-brass-inlaid tortoiseshell, ebony and ebonised 'Boulle' low armoire
After the model by André-Charles Boulle, By Mathieu Befort, dit Befort Jeune, Mid-19th century
The inverted breakfront top above a pair of cupboard doors, centred by figures of Aspasia and the Philosopher and flanked to the sides with ribbon-tied medals, the interior fitted with two adjustable shelves, the sides with pierced scrolling foliate mounts, on bun feet; the carcass stamped twice to the back BEFORT JEUNE
52¼ in. (132.5 cm.) high; 49¼ in. (125.5 cm.) wide; 19 in. (48.5 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

This low armoire follows the celebrated models made by André-Charles Boulle, ébéniste, ciseleur, doreur et sculpteur du Roi from 1672 to 1732. See Alexandre Pradère, French Furniture Makers, The Art of the Ebéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, Paris, 1989, p. 81.

Mathieu Befort, dit Befort Jeune, was the son of Jean-Baptiste Befort (d. 1840), who established his Paris workshops in 1817 in the faubourg Saint-Honoré. He was a brother of Bernard Befort, ébéniste-marqueteur and 'antiquaire' and like him specialised in 'meubles de Boulle'. The firm received a medal at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie française. Befort Jeune was recorded at Neuves-Saint-Gilles from 1844 until 1880.

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