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Lot Essay
These meubles d'appui relate to the oeuvreof Befort Jeune. 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'. Befort favoured the Louis XIV and Regence styles and copied the most famous pieces of the period such as Boulle's magnificent armoires à médaille, a mid-19th century version of which by Befort sold Christie's, 28 September 2006, lot 53 (£84,000). 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.
A meuble d'appui with 'Boulle' marquetry and of similar proportions but dating to circa 1710, sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's, 14-15 December 2005, lot 33. It was later mounted with the same figures of Ceres and Dionysus, which are two of the figures of the seasons which feature to this pair.
A meuble d'appui with 'Boulle' marquetry and of similar proportions but dating to circa 1710, sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's, 14-15 December 2005, lot 33. It was later mounted with the same figures of Ceres and Dionysus, which are two of the figures of the seasons which feature to this pair.