19th-Century French Floral Marquetry Cabinet With Rouge Marble and Bronze Mounts

Details

Description

An exceptionally decorative French cabinet with lavish floral marquetry, beautifully bowed sides, a rouge marble top, and scrolling gilt-bronze mounts.
… Read more An exceptionally decorative French cabinet with lavish floral marquetry, beautifully bowed sides, a rouge marble top, and scrolling gilt-bronze mounts.
An elegant late-19th-century French meuble d’appui or one-door cabinet in the Louis XV Revival taste. Its narrow proportions were designed to provide useful storage while standing discreetly against a wall—a splendid combination of practicality and Parisian decoration.
The cabinet is veneered in richly figured woods arranged in geometric patterns and ornamented with extraordinarily detailed floral marquetry. The front door presents a large bouquet of tulips, roses, foliage, and trailing blossoms enclosed within an intricate scrolling cartouche. A smaller floral garland decorates the frieze above.
Importantly, the marquetry continues across both gently bowed sides, each displaying its own flowering bouquet framed by scrolling tendrils. This all-around decoration gives the cabinet far greater refinement than examples with plain side panels.
The shaped rouge marble top follows the cabinet’s serpentine profile. Elaborate gilt-bronze rocaille mounts descend from the upper corners, with additional foliate ornament centered on the apron and bronze sabots protecting the front feet.
The single locking door opens to reveal a dark wood interior fitted with one shelf. At only 16½ inches deep, the cabinet offers practical storage without projecting excessively into a room. It would be particularly effective in an entry, dining room, bedroom, library, or beneath a painting or mirror.
Details

Louis XV-Style Marquetry Inlaid Side Cabinet
DIMENSIONS
43 1/2 x 34 1/2 x 16 1/2 in. (110.5 x 87.6 x 41.9 cm See less