BY ESCALIER DE CRISTAL, PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY

This highly unusual, almost Art Deco looking, table is exemplary of the high-quality furniture by the marchand-éditeur L'Escalier de Cristal at the end of the 19th century. Established in 1802 by Madame Désarnaud, L'Escalier de Cristal was 'Fournisseur breveté du Roi’, supplying furniture and objets d’art to noble families throughout France and beyond. They counted among their Russian client Tsar Alexander III, Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch and the Demidoff families (W. Zeisler, L’objet d’art et de luxe Français en Russie (1881-1917), 2014, p. 341). From 1840, L'Escalier de Cristal were awarded medals at most of the international exhibitions. The firm became an icon of goût Parisien and luxury: 'Toutes les fortunes, tous les gens qui ont le discernement clair viennent Paris, de tous les pays du monde pour lui [Pannier] demander son gôut régulateur' (Exposition Universelle de Londres, Catalogue de la section française, 1862, p. 175).