Estimate

12.000 - 16.000

Session 2

6 June 2023

Hammer Price

Description

Ebony and other timbers
Trapezoid shaped of marble top
Central door of embedded mahogany, boxwood, jacaranda and other timbers decoration with Greek inspired neoclassical and foliage elements
Inlaid decoration to sides and pilaster columns of gilt bronze foliage decorative elements and lion's heads elements
France, 19th century

114x117,5x47 cm

Category

Furniture

19TH CENTURY FRENCH FURNITURE

The second half of the 19th century is, undoubtedly, the age when decorative arts favoured the revivalist taste, the fusion of styles and the collecting. At an age when society looked attentively at the past, the greatest masters of previous centuries were inevitably reinterpreted by the new artists, hence promoting the emergence of quality replicas that were accepted by their contemporaries as genuine works of art. The glory of the golden age of Versailles was reborn in the decorative arts, particularly in furniture, inspired by the artistic character of the reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI and by the much admired prototypes of the great furniture makers such as André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732), Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763) or Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806).
In 1860s Paris there a noticeable increase in the number of luxury furniture making workshops which, in that period employed 2000 workers, a figure in stark contrast with the 14,500 employed by the lower quality furniture making workshops. Luxury furniture makers were amongst the most privileged Paris craftsmen, being responsible for the production of exceptional pieces of furniture often destined to the French Imperial House or to other European Royal Courts.
As had already happened in the 18th century, cabinetmakers were among the privileged craftsmen of Paris, in charge of producing excellent quality furniture, normally destined to the French imperial house and other European royal houses, namely the Portuguese one. An example of this is the furniture that we can find in the collection of the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon.

Tiago Franco Rodrigues

Literature:
PAYNE, Christopher, 19thCentury European Furniture, Antique Collectors ́Club 1985;
RODRIGUES, Tiago, The furniture of Maison Krieger at art auction: A fine vitrine in Louis XV style sold by Veritas at Lisbon, ArtisOn, no5, Lisboa, ARTIS-IHA/FLUL, 2017;
VERLET, Pierre, Le mobilier royal français du XVIIIe siècle. IV – Meubles de la Couronne conservés en Europe et aux États-Unis, Paris, Editions Picard, 1990;
VERLET, Pierre, Les ébénistes du XVIII siècle français, Paris, Hachette, 1963;
VERLET, Pierre, Les meubles français du XVIII siècle, 2o edição, Paris, Presses Universitaire de France, 1982.

Charles-Guillaume Diehl (1811-1885)

Of German origin, Charles-Guillaume Diehl was born on July 20th, 1811, in Steinbach (Great Duchy of Hesse), in modern day Bavaria. In 1840 he moved to Paris, settling first at 3 rue de Thorigny, and later at 170 rue Saint-Martin. Curiously his name is only referred in the Almanach du Commerce de Paris, from 1850 onwards, when he had already moved to 16 rue Michel-le-comte. By the following year, and until 1852, he was recorded as being in the same street, but at number 21, and soon afterwards at number 19, where he remained until 1885. In turn, his workshops were based at 39 rue Saint-Sebastien where, by 1870, Diehl employed 600 workers.
Charles-Guillaume Diehl became a prestigious 19th century cabinet maker, renowned for the exceptional design of all sorts of cased sets, which encompassed liqueur cabinets and a variety of games and jewellery boxes. Simultaneously he produced small sized furniture, such as lady’s worktables, games tables and marriage pieces. His work embraced a wide variety of creations that included a current more standard, as well as a highly luxurious production, amongst which can be found those pieces made especially for the various 19th century Universal Exhibitions, such as the one held in 1851 in London, where his international acclaim was achieved. But other important events followed, such participations earning him a reputation as maker of unique and high-quality furniture pieces that were highly desirable amongst the Parisian and the international elites, this fact contributing to their popularity up to the present.
In 1867, during the Universal Exhibition, the art critic Jules Mesnard, summarised Diehl’s production with the following note “Sa fabrication embrasse tout le mobilier artistique, depuis la boite à épingles à 2 francs jusqu’au grand meuble de 70 000 francs. Il a le mobilier ordinaire et courant, et le mobilier de prix” (Jules Mesnard 1867, p.130).
Pieces signed by Charles-Guillaume Diehl can be found in various private collections as well as in international museums such as the Musée de Orsay in Paris, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Musée de l ‘École de Nancy, in Nancy and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Tiago Franco Rodrigues