An Important Louis XVI Style Marquetry Inlaid Marble-Top Commode by Paul Sormani.
Stamped twice beneath the marble top ‘SORMANI Paris’.
The lockplate engraved ‘P. Sormani Paris 10 R. Charlot’.
This impressive and unusual commode has a demi-lune shaped brêche violette marble top above an inlaid frieze drawer over two long drawers, flanked by finely inlaid cabinet doors with marquetry panels depicting figures in classical scenes.
French, Circa 1870.
Born in Venice in 1817, Paul Sormani (1817-1877), was a Parisian maker of fine ‘meubles de luxe’. His work was described in the catalogue of the 1867 Exposition Universelle as: ‘toute sa production révèle une qualité d’exécution de tout premier ordre’ (all of his production reveals a quality of execution all of the first order’).
Sormani exhibited at the International Exhibitions in Paris in 1849, 1855, 1867, 1878 and 1900, and in London in 1862, winning numerous medals.
Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’art français : 1850-1900, Les Editions de l’Amateur, (Paris), 2010.
Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006.
By appointment only.
