Napoleon III Buffet With a Rouge Marble Top

Object Description

A Large and Impressive Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Buffet With a Rouge Marble Top, by Maison Grohé.

Stamped twice to the top rail beneath the marble top and once to the drawer edge ‘GROHÉ / A PARIS’

This exceptional buffet is made from the finest solid mahogany, it has a shaped Rouge marble top above a frieze with a single long drawer, supported by four gilt-bronze mounted monopodia legs with superb gilt-bronze Rams head capitals, laurel leaves and floral garlands. The buffet has open sides and a central shelf and is raised on a plinth base.

Object History

Guillaume and Jean-Michel Grohé, worked together from 1829 until Jean-Michel retired in 1861, the younger brother Guillaume continuing until 1884. They exhibited at the French Industrial Exhibition in 1834, and in 1847 became known as Grohé Frères with Guillaume the principal partner.

Guillaume supplied many royal houses, including Queen Victoria, from 1862 onwards. He was also said to have made a great impression on, and supplied furniture to King Louis Philippe, Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenié. Guillaume favoured the Louis XVI style but made pieces in differing styles, exhibiting almost continually from 1834 to 1878. Guillaume was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 1849.

Object Literature

Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006; pps. 97, 98, 100, 230.

Ledoux – Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 237-244.

Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’Art Français, 1850-1900, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 2010.

Object Details