This exceptional and unusually large jewellery cabinet was created during the height of the Second Empire, when the elegant style occasioned by the rule of Napoleon III reached its fullest expression. The cabinet features surfaces superbly finished with checkerboard parquetry in ebony, while the interior is crafted from lustrous tulipwood. The piece is by the celebrated Parisian ébéniste Alphonse Giroux.
The rectangular hinged top of the cabinet is adorned with pierced ormolu arabesque mounts: one large mount to the top centre, with smaller mounts to the corners and edges. The sides of the cabinet are similarly adorned, each centred with an ormolu handle. The front of the cabinet features twin doors, which open to reveal an interior finished in satin and velvet containing three frieze drawers and a sliding tray, all in tulipwood, while the inside of the hinged top is centred with a rectangular mirror framed in ormolu and bordered with parquetry panels. The front of each door is centred with a Sèvres enamel plaque painted in grisaille with a depiction of a classical maiden, the plaques framed in pierced and engraved ormolu mounts. The shaped apron below is similarly decorated, as are the four toupie feet.
The lockplate is signed 'M.son Ase Giroux et Comp.nie à Paris', while the enamel plaques are monogrammed and dated 'AMEYR/ 1866'.
Literature-+
Illustrated in C. Payne, Paris Furniture: The Luxury Market of the 19th Century, San-Remy-en-l'eau, 2018, page 370.