Object Description
A Napoleon kingwood marble free-standing writing table attributed to Sormani, the shaped rectangular top inset with Breche d’Alep marble within wide ormolu edging, all above three frieze drawers on one side with dummy fronts on the other, all raised on cabriole legs, decorated in marquetry with flowerheads scattered on cross-banding and opulent ormolu mounts comprising scrolls, acanthus, sabots and elegant female busts to the corners. French, circa 1860.
Paul Sormani (1817-1877) was Italian born, establishing his first workshops in Paris in 1847, finally settling in Rue Charlot in 1867 and offering works of ‘a quality of execution of the first order’. His specialty was copies of furniture in the style of the ‘Ancien Regime’. The firm exhibited at the Paris Expositions Universelles of 1855 and 1867, and London 1862 and won several medals for excellence.