Lot Essay
The richly scrolling, lushly naturalistic panels of floral marquetry on an ebony ground, framed by distinctive arabesque borders, relate this spectacular cabinet closely to the documented oeuvre of Pierre Gole (circa 1620-1684), who from 1656 was 'maître menuisier en èbène ordinaire du roi'.
The abundant flower-filled vases of the central door, and of the end panels, which are on distinctive stands with monopodia supports, obviously owe a debt to the great Flemish and French still life painters of the 17th century such as Ambrosius Bosschaert and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer.
A flower-filled vase supported by a closely related monopodia-supported stand features on a cabinet attributed to Gole illustrated in Th. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole Ebéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, pp. 137-141. Similar tied floral sprays to the drawer-fronts recur throughout Gole's oeuvre, for instance on a bureau mazarin brisé illustrated in Scheurleer op. cit., pp. 190-191, which also featured flower-filled vases to the sides and was sold from the collection of the late Sir Arthur Gilbert, Christie's, New York, 21 October 2005, lot 333 ($190,000 exc. premium).
The abundant flower-filled vases of the central door, and of the end panels, which are on distinctive stands with monopodia supports, obviously owe a debt to the great Flemish and French still life painters of the 17th century such as Ambrosius Bosschaert and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer.
A flower-filled vase supported by a closely related monopodia-supported stand features on a cabinet attributed to Gole illustrated in Th. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole Ebéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, pp. 137-141. Similar tied floral sprays to the drawer-fronts recur throughout Gole's oeuvre, for instance on a bureau mazarin brisé illustrated in Scheurleer op. cit., pp. 190-191, which also featured flower-filled vases to the sides and was sold from the collection of the late Sir Arthur Gilbert, Christie's, New York, 21 October 2005, lot 333 ($190,000 exc. premium).