Style Napoleon III / Ref.10698

TAHAN Manufactory and Julien-Nicolas RIVART (1802-1867) - Sewing table with flowers bouquet In porcelain marquetry and gilt bronze ornaments

This elegant sewing table was realized by Tahan, "prince of small cabinetmaking", as a journalist from the Palais de Cristal enjoyed to call him, when he presented a very similar table at the World's Fair of 1851 in London.
At this very same exhibition, Tahan was displaying several pieces of furniture decorated of porcelain marquetry by Julien-Nicolas Rivart . The latter is the inventor of the porcelain marquetry technique, a unique process, searched for a long time and patented in 1849, he was the only one to master. The table we present here is thus a rare witness of Tahan's favorable disposition towards the "Rivart process".

This skillful artist achieved a synthesis between the Florentine hard stone marquetry and the decoration of porcelain slabs from 18th century. He can hence combine the lightness of marquetry and its sophisticated contrasts effects, with the charm of painting on porcelain. The marquetry invented by Rivart enables these sophisticated hues to contrast directly with the wood, and prevents to hide the veins and the cabinetmaker's beautiful work. For that reason, at the World's Fairs of 1851, 1855 and 1867, this technique is described as "a delicious process", "yet more beautiful than beautiful", and receives the Emperor Napoleon III's congratulations.
We have here a fine example of these rare decorations with a bouquet of roses and wild flowers, red poppy, pansies, buttercups, campanulas and forget-me-nots.