A LARGE NAPOLEON III GILTWOOD AND EBONISED MIRROR AND CONSOLE TABLE
Property from the Collection of Dr Mohammed Said Farsi
A LARGE NAPOLEON III GILTWOOD AND EBONISED MIRROR AND CONSOLE TABLE

THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A LARGE NAPOLEON III GILTWOOD AND EBONISED MIRROR AND CONSOLE TABLE
THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
The mirror frame elaborately carved all-over with 'C'-scrolls, flowers and rocaille ornament, the arched pediment surmounted by a foliate cresting, centred by a crescent moon and three stars flanked by a pair of doves, the sides with cornucopiae issuing reeds and centred to one side with a suit of armour and to the other with a shield, the back numerously inked 'NO 2'; the console en suite, with later serpentine Levanto Rouge marble top above a pierced apron centred by a crescent moon and three stars, on cabriole legs joined by an 'X'-shaped stretcher centred by a coquille, the backboard with a paper label indistinctly inscribed 'De la grand antichambre/de Kiosque de Gezira/Console or et ebene'
The Mirror: 118 x 68 in. (300 x 173 cm.)
The Console: 38½ in. (98 cm.) high; 69½ in (176.5 cm.) wide; 26½ in. (67 cm.) deep (2)
Provenance
Probably commissioned by Khedive Ismail Pasha (1830-1895) for the Gezira Palace in Zamalek, Cairo.

Brought to you by

Anne Qaimmaqami
Anne Qaimmaqami

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Lot Essay

This large and impressive console table and mirror is carved with the arms of the Kingdom of Egypt used by the Viceroys and Khedives during the 19th century. A paper label to the back-rail of the console identifies it as once gracing the Grand Antechamber of the Gezira Palace in Zamalek, Cairo. The Gezira Palace is located on an island in the River Nile which was first developed by Khedive Ismail Pasha with lush gardens and a summer house, or 'Kiosk', which the Khedive replaced with a Palace during the early 1860s for the visit of Empress Eugénie to open the Suez Canal in 1869.

The exuberant carved decoration incorporating floral garlands and guerrier trophies is very much in the Imperial style revived by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie in their renovations at the châteaux Compiègne and St. Cloud. The Khedive's intention at Gezira was to build a palace becoming of the Impératrice and it is therefore fitting that the carving and execution compares to menuiserie pieces produced by Cruchet, Fourdinois and Grohé for the Garde-Meuble Impérial.

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