Ref.03141
Charles-Guillaume Diehl, sewing table with turtles and grasshoppers

Sewing tableLegs in checker tree wood, marquetry of various woods (amaranth, birch, Ceylon ebony, maple, holly and stained holly), shined and painted bronze, fabric and padding, mirror.After 1878.Three supple checker tree legs rise from a triangular wood base adorned with floral marquetry. They cross and curve elegantly up to a particularly graceful multi-foil sewing box in precious wood. The decorative elements are dragonflies and butterflies, foliage and flowers, in the wood but also and most surprisingly as painted bronze very naturalistic elements, of Japanese inspiration. The top of the box displays a single large marquetry branch of flowers.The latch is hidden, in a typical fashion according to Jules Mesnard; “Another specific merit of Mr Diehl is his latches: his boxes and furniture do not close with keys for a key can break the lines of a design. Mr Diehl opens and closes his boxes by pushing an ornament that just seems in its place. Such a closing device offers secrecy and challenges thieves and inquisitors.'There are several versions of this table, one in the Ecole de Nancy museum and the other in the Musée d’Orsay.Charles-Guillaume Diehl was born in Steinbach in Germany in 1811 and established himself in 1840 in Paris - by 1870 he employed 600 people in his workshops rue Saint-Sébastien. He was very popular attracting many to his World’s Fair exhibits, combining his talent of cabinet maker and marquetry artist. He became naturalised French in 1872.

Ref.15127
Louis-Édouard LEMARCHAND - Napoleon III low bookcase About 1850

.am-parent-card{ display: flex; width: 100%; gap: 5%; } .am-child-card{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; border-radius: 5px; background-color: white; box-shadow: 2px 2px 5px #8080807d; width: 50%; overflow: hidden; } .ref-img1 { border-radius: 5px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px grey; width: 100%; } .ref-img2 { border-radius: 5px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px grey; width: 400px; } .ref-img4 { border-radius: 5px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px grey; width: 400px; max-height: 600px } .ref-sect { display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center; gap: 30px } figcaption { text-align: center; } @media screen and (max-width: 640px) { .am-parent-card { display: flex; flex-direction:column; width: 100%; } .am-child-card { width: 100%; } .ref-img2 { width: 100%; } .ref-img3 { width: 100%; } .ref-img4 { width: 100%; max-height: auto !important; } .ref-img10 { width: 100%; } .ref-sect { display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; gap: 30px } } This low bookcase in rosewood with figures of philosophers was made by cabinetmaker Louis-Édouard Lemarchand around 1850. Louis-Édouard Lemarchand (Paris, 1795-1872) was the son of Charles-Joseph Lemarchand (1759-1826), who founded a dynasty of cabinetmakers. He studied architecture and spent two years in the Empire. Under the Restoration, he returned to Paris to help his father in the workshop. Their cabinetmaking business took off. In 1817, they became Fournisseur Breveté du Garde-Meuble. Active under Charles X, Louis Philippe and then Napoleon III, Lemarchand fils continued to use his father's stamp, deleting the initial of the first name. It was he who executed Napoleon I's coffin in 1840. In 1846, he formed a partnership with André Lemoyne; when he retired, the business was continued by the Lemoynes, until it was taken over by Charles Jeanselme in 1893. L.-É. Lemarchand, 1/5th scale model of Napoleon's coffin at Les Invalides, c. 1840, Paris, Musée Carnavalet (D. R.) The format of this bookcase means it can be placed under windows, in a bright room, ideal for reading. Above a long, solid plinth, five glazed openings open out; the two side doors operate in pairs, while the central door has a single leaf. The arch above the openings is adorned at the top with a shell surrounded by darker wood foliage. The corners of the cabinet are beveled and feature two carved atlatls representing literary figures. On the right, the man depicted as a thinker is Socrates; on the left is another writer, looking worried, holding a roll of papers in his hand. This iconography is particularly well suited to library furniture. The atlantes adorning the corners of the dresser are particularly characteristic of Lemarchand's art, which he used in a variety of formulas on a relatively large number of works. This is the case of a cabinet sold at Tajan in 2016, richly carved in the corners and on the top.

Ref.13928
C. GASPARINI, Inlaid Wall Cabinet Decorated With A Virgin And Child

This wall cabinet in wood, ivory, bone, brass, and tin marquetry was crafted in the last quarter of the 19th century in Milan by G. Casparini, as indicated by the artist's signature. Characteristic of the Umbertino style developed in Northern Italy by cabinetmakers like Adriano Brambilla, this small piece of furniture is adorned with delicate Neo-Renaissance decor. The central panel features the Madonna dell’Ulivo by Nicolo Barabino from 1887, while the cherub from Raphael's Sistine Madonna decorates the pediment. G. Casparini delivers here a remarkable example of the "stile Umbertino," characterized by its richly ornate decoration typical of Italian eclecticism.