BY CHARLES-GUILLAUME DIEHL, THE BRONZES PROBABLY CAST FROM MODELS BY EMMANUEL FREMIET, CIRCA 1865

The present lot evokes the unique Neogothic style of the late nineteenth century in France as interpreted by one of the era’s most accomplished ébénistes, Charles Guillaume Diehl (d.1885), in partnership with the lauded animalier sculptor, Emmanuel Frémiet (1824-1910). At the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle, the centerpiece of Diehl's stand was an exuberant silvered-bronze-mounted marquetry-inlaid medal cabinet with central bas-relief by Frémiet and described as ‘Merovingian in style’ (purchased by the Louvre in 1973 and now on display in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris). The similar sculptural mounts of the present medallier, attributed to Frémiet, are characteristic of the artist’s unconventional oeuvre, which witnessed the creation of imaginary creatures and rampant beasts.