Object Description
An Important Napoleon III Exhibition-Quality
Ormolu-Mounted Carved Cabinet
By Maison Guéret of Paris
A tour-de-force glazed boxwood cabinet celebrating the art of woodcarving, the monumental vitrine of slight breakfront proportions, with rounded corners, all surfaces carved with the most exquisite designs and refined detail with ormolu banding, the base of tripartite design, the central cupboard door with a carved roundel depicting a triumphant muse, flanked by two doors with carved musical trophies enclosing a single adjustable-shelved interior, the frieze incorporating a further three drawers with slides above; the superstructure with three glazed casements separated by carved and fluted pilasters with ionic capitals; enclosing a red velvet-lined and shelved interior; the tripartite pediment each with rounded cornices, the central tympanum carved with laurel leaves and instruments of the arts & wisdom topped with a carved finial and a draped lambrequin below, the flanking entablatures with cartouches depicting Bacchus and Ariadne below urn finials with carved Vitruvian scrolls and ribbon-tied cascading bunches of laurel leaves, the symbol of triumph. Signed on the cartouche “Guéret Frères / Paris” and bearing the maker’s stamp twice “Guéret Fres Paris 246 rue de Lafayette.”
French, Circa 1870