Mobilier du XVIIIe siècle : décors et marqueterie de nacre

Les incrustations de nacre dans le mobilier (ou plus fréquemment les petits objets) était une technique fort ancienne, et nous pourrions présenter de nombreux exemples de mobilier, de provenances "orientales" ou européennes, qui illustreraient ce sujet...




Cabinet, c. 1680–1700
Mahogany, mother-of-pearl, ivory, and tortoiseshell

Historique (extrait)
The original owner of the cabinet appears to have been Don Melchor Portocarrero, third count of Monclova and viceroy of New Spain (1686–88), who subsequently became viceroy of Peru (1689–1715). It is likely that the count commissioned the piece during his tenure as viceroy.
Probably made in the Portuguese settlement of Goa, India, the cabinet crossed the Indian Ocean to Manila, in the Spanish Philippines. Finally, the cabinet crossed the Pacific to arrive in New Spain's capital, Mexico City.
Set within the mother-of-pearl double-headed eagle crest symbolizing Spain's Habsburg dynasty is the painted coat of arms for Peru's Tagle family, who inherited the monumental piece in the late 18th century.
Image et infos complémentaires : Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art




Chest with a Single Drawer
Japan, ,late 16th–early 17th century

Présentation :
This spectacular chest belongs to a category of goods known as nanban (literally southern barbarians), produced for trade with Portugal and other European countries in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
While the shape of the chest derives from European traditions, the geometric patterns on the top and sides were most likely influenced by the Indian textiles that were widely traded at the time. On the other hand, the delicate floral scroll on the front is an East Asian motif, imported into Japan from China around the eighth century.
Images et infos complémentaires : The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Des incrustations de nacre, plus ou moins réparties, participant aux décors de la marqueterie du meuble...

Photo : Pinterest / Loni Figgins




Secrétaire à gradin dit de Diane et Apollon
Attribué à Bernard I Vanrisamburgh
Vers 1700-1730
Bois et placage d'ébène rouge, palissandre et bois de violette ; Marqueterie : laiton, nacre, corne, écaille de tortue et lapis-lazuli ; Bronze ciselé et doré.
Photos : RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Stéphane Maréchalle ; RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / Gérard Blot




Writing Desk
Abraham Roentgen, c. 1758 - c. 1760
Oak, walnut, maple, rosewood, ebony, rosewood, cherry, satinwood, silver, mother of pearl copper, bone, bronze, ivory steel, tin
Made for Archbishop-Elector Johann Philipp von Walderdorff
Image : Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image infos complémentaires : Rijks Museum





Serre-bijoux de Marie-Antoinette
Schwerdfeger, Ferdinand (ébéniste)
1787
d'après Dugourc, Jean-Démosthène (dessinateur)
bronzes d'après Boizot, Louis-Simon (sculpteur)
bronzes fondus par Martincourt, Etienne (fondeur)
bronzes ciselés par Thomire, Pierre-Philippe (bronzier)
bronzes dorés par Mellet, Jean-Baptiste-Godegrand (doreur)
peinture sous verre de Lagrenée, Jean-Jacques (peintre)
Degault, Jacques-Joseph (peintre)
Sauvage, Piat-Joseph (peintre)
plaques de porcelaine par la Sèvres, Manufacture de (fabricant)
Bâti : chêne. Placage : acajou, incrustations de nacre, peintures sous verre, plaques de porcelaine. Bronzes dorés ; marbre sérancolin des Pyrénées.
Images : Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / Christophe Fouin




Ce meuble, proposé prochainement en vente aux enchères, présente cependant des caractéristiques différentes, et rares.  
Les éléments de nacre, associés à de fines feuilles d’argent teintées et dorées, se fondent et décorent cette fois-ci l’ensemble du meuble, au point que le bois disparaît.  

Nous connaissons un autre meuble exceptionnel pour lesquels nacre et feuilles de métal sont magnifiquement associées.  
Il est évoqué dans la note au catalogue, que je cite (extraits) :

- A rare germain omolu-mounted mother-of-pearl, green and gilt painted silver foil, rosewood and bois satiné bureau de pente
Attributed to Franz Zeller
Circa 1750-60
Of bombe form, applied overall with mother of pearl and green and gilt painted embossed silver foil depicting foliate sprays outlined in yellow, the serpentine top with C-scroll, rocaille and flowering foliate repoussé shoulder mounts, centred by a conforming clasp, the drop-front framed by a rocaille border opening to reveal a green velvet-lined writing surface within a rosewood border, flower engraved ormolu hinges and lock back-plate, and an arrangement of six-drawers, one fitted with an inkwell, centred by a mirrored back above a sliding compartment enclosing a secret drawer, the shaped frieze with two drawers, on cabriole legs headed by pierced foliate-cast chutes and terminating in rocaille and cabochon sabots; a few losses to the mother of pearl veneers
37 ½ in. (95.2 cm.) high; 31 ¾ in. (80.5 cm.) wide; 17 ¾ in. (45 cm.) deep

Provenance : Probably commissioned for William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1682-1760), for Schloss Wilhelmstahl, Calden, Germany.
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905), recorded in the 'Salon no. 2' of the hôtel Saint-Florentin, Paris in 1905, and by descent.
(...)




Photos : Christie's

Lot Essay

Furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl is among the most intricate, precious and rare.
This jewel-like German Rococo ormolu-mounted bureau de pente, applied all-over with plaques of opalescent mother-of-pearl combined with polychrome-painted silver foil, is part of a unique group of three pieces similarly decorated; the other two are small commodes.

Probably made in South Germany in the mid-1750s by Franz Zeller (1697-1780), court cabinet-maker to the Electors of the Palatinate, celebrated for his skill in tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl marquetry, ]this distinctive group is the only furniture of this type and date known to have survived although a later mother-of-pearl encased secrétaire à cylindre was supplied by the Parisian ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) in 1786 for Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir at the chateau de Fontainebleau.

The closest comparable within the group to this bureau de pente is a commode with virtually identical mounts known as the ‘Peacock feather commode’ because of its painted silver foil decoration and colouring.
It was almost certainly acquired by William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1682-1760), for Schloss Wilhelmstahl in Calden, where it remains today. The present bureau de pente may have been purchased at the same time, and was probably intended to be en suite.





Photos : Christie's


THE RELATED COMMODES FROM WILHELMSTAHL AND MANNHEIM

The ‘Peacock feather commode’ from Schloss Wilhelmstahl with near-identical mounts is dated circa 1755.  
It is recorded in the ‘Kabinett des Landgrafen’ at Wilhelmstahl in the 1788 inventory as : (...)
[A Parisian commode on four legs, with mother-of-pearl and green painted peacock feathers inlay, with two drawers, ormolu foliate and floral mounts surmounted by a bluish marble top].


Photo : Christie's

Interestingly, this commode is immediately followed in the inventory by a green-painted writing-desk with ormolu mounts, and feasibly this rather sparse entry is describing the present bureau de pente: (...)
[A green painted writing-desk with three drawers (the third drawer probably referring to the drop down top) and gilt mounts, on four cabriole legs, the hinged writing surface lined with black leather. On the writing-desk a configuration for stationary and books].
In 1926, the commode was illustrated still in situ in the ‘Kabinett’ at Wilhelmstahl although no green-painted writing-desk is shown, suggesting that by this date it had left the collection.

The Wilhelmstahl commode is similarly applied with mother-of-pearl plaques but these are combined with painted peacock feathers on silver foil in shades of blue and green, and it has a Bardiglio Bleu Fleuris marble top, a marble considered rare and highly prized for its delicate veining. (...)


Photo : Christie's

The individual decorative style and the close similarity of the mounts suggest it was made by the same maker or workshop as this bureau de pente. It seems likely these two pieces were intended to be an ensemble. This would have been particularly effective given the stylistic relationship between the two; the mother-of-pearl and the green-painted foil decoration of the present bureau de pente depicting dense and naturalistic foliage – perhaps a theatrical foil to the ‘Peacock feather commode’.

The commode, and possibly this bureau de pente, were probably acquired by William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1682-1760) in the mid-1750s for Schloss Wilhelmstahl, designed by François de Cuvilliés (1695-1768), architect to the Elector of Bavaria.

Image : Hessen Film

Johann August Nahl the Elder (1710–1781), ornemeniste, sculptor and stucco worker, the son of Johann Samuel Nahl, court sculptor to Frederick I of Prussia, was engaged to design a series of opulent Rococo interiors, which included furniture, between 1747 and 1761, for the Landgrave’s maison de plaisance, Schloss Wilhelmstahl.
Each room in the princely appartments was individually decorated with Rococo painted and gilded rocaille paneling, plasterwork and rich silk hangings, and furnished with the finest Rococo furniture, all conceived in relation to each other - the carving found on the chairs and settees matching the stuccoes in what is now called the ‘Frederician Rococo’ – possibly further evidence that the Wilhelmstahl commode and the present bureau de pente were ensuite.
The interiors of Wilhemstahl and its furniture are largely intact today, and undoubtedly one of the most prized items in the collection is the mother-of-pearl commode.

Im Kabinett des Landgrafen findet sich die unbezahlbare Pfauenkommode mit eingelassenem Perlmutt. MHK.
Foto: A. Hensmann / Miniglobetrotter


The second commode in the group was formerly at the magnificent Mannheim Palace in Baden-Württemberg, where it is recorded in the 1804 and 1835 inventories.

Photo : Christie's

The cabinet-maker Franz Zeller to whom this commode (and the present bureau de pente and Wilhelmstahl commode) is attributed was court cabinet-maker to Karl Philipp III (d. 1742), and his successor, Carl Theodor (1724-99), Prince Electors of the Palatinate.
Carl Theodor was responsible for a period of cultural development in the region, which saw many craftsmen and artists like the cabinet-making Zeller family setting up workshops in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Frankenthal.


Ehrenhof, Schloss Mannheim
Photo : https://www.schloss-mannheim.de/en/home/

These craftsmen sought to emulate the fine craftsmanship found at other European courts, especially France, but with an individual quality that distinguished their work as from the region; this may explain why furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl and polychrome silver-foil was created.

In 1730, Franz Zeller, was entrusted with the refurbishment of the new apartments and parquetry floors in the Mannheim Palace, submitting two designs in the typical Rococo idiom for presentation to the Elector; these survive in the State Archives, Karlsruhe; he was also working for the Elector at Schwetzingen.
It was possibly in this period that he was sent by the court to Naples, a centre for piqué work, where he became so adept in the craft of inlaying tortoiseshell with mother-of-pearl, gold and silver, that the architect, Johann Friedrich von Uffenbach, travelled to Mannheim to study his work.

In 1750, Carl Theodor ordered the construction of an eastern wing for the palace to house his art and scientific collections, the treasury, the library and archive.

Mannheim Baroque Palace, reading room in library
Photo : Staatliche Schlösser une Gârten Baden-Wûrttemberg / Andrea Rachele
https://www.schloss-mannheim.de/en/home/

Between 1750 and 1756, Zeller was commissioned to furnish the library, which included bookcases, a marquetry table top and the parquetry floor, considered one of his greatest achievements.

Zeller’s renowned skill in tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl inlay, together with the existence of the commode at Mannheim where he was court cabinet-maker, has led to the credible proposal that Zeller was the maker of all three pieces of mother-of-pearl furniture in the group including the present bureau de pente.
(...)
Its ornamentation differs from the other two examples; the silver foil is painted in hues of pink and purple perhaps to emulate exotic flowers, and the mounts are not the same, suggesting it was probably a separate commission but undoubtedly by the same maker or workshop.
(...)

* Source texte, suite de la présentation, et infos complémentaires : Christie's London - The Exceptional Sale, 4 July 2019

C'est absolument sublime .....  
Merci pour l'ouverture de ce merveilleux sujet !!!

Merci LNLN pour ce beau sujet !!!

La nuit, la neige a écrit:Les incrustations de nacre dans le mobilier (ou plus fréquemment les petits objets) était une technique fort ancienne, et nous pourrions présenter de nombreux exemples de mobilier, de provenances "orientales" ou européennes, qui illustreraient ce sujet...




Cabinet, c. 1680–1700
Mahogany, mother-of-pearl, ivory, and tortoiseshell

Historique (extrait)
The original owner of the cabinet appears to have been Don Melchor Portocarrero, third count of Monclova and viceroy of New Spain (1686–88), who subsequently became viceroy of Peru (1689–1715). It is likely that the count commissioned the piece during his tenure as viceroy.
Probably made in the Portuguese settlement of Goa, India, the cabinet crossed the Indian Ocean to Manila, in the Spanish Philippines. Finally, the cabinet crossed the Pacific to arrive in New Spain's capital, Mexico City.
Set within the mother-of-pearl double-headed eagle crest symbolizing Spain's Habsburg dynasty is the painted coat of arms for Peru's Tagle family, who inherited the monumental piece in the late 18th century.
Image et infos complémentaires : Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art

Voici un autre exemple, conservé dans la chambre de la reine au château de Chambord :



cliché personnel

Christie's / Note au catalogue a écrit:
(...) this distinctive group is the only furniture of this type and date known to have survived although a later mother-of-pearl encased secrétaire à cylindre was supplied by the Parisian ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) in 1786 for Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir at the chateau de Fontainebleau.

Bon, je m'y colle, car ce magnifique secrétaire a, bien évidemment, sa place "royale" dans ce sujet !
Le bien connu...


Secrétaire à cylindre
Jean-Henri Riesener (non estampillé)
Boudoir de Marie-Antoinette au château de Fontainebleau (en 1786 ?)
Nacre, bronze doré et bronze argenté, laiton, placage de satiné, buis et ébènes ; intérieur en acajou, satiné, buis, ébène et cuir.
Source image : Forum de Marie-Antoinette - Fontainebleau, les appartements royaux


Source image : Twitter - Benjamin Randow


Source image : Forum de Marie-Antoinette - Le Boudoir d'argent de Marie-Antoinette au château de Fontainebleau


Source image : Image feedx.club / promarker Anthony


Source image : Imgrumweb - Instagram Eric Dechassey


Si bien accompagné, ne l'oublions pas de la...

Source image : Le boudoir d'Argent de Marie-Antoinette au château de Fontainebleau


Jean-Henri Riesener (non estampillé)[/b]
Boudoir de Marie-Antoinette au château de Fontainebleau (en 1786 ?)
Nacre, bronze doré et bronze argenté, laiton
Image : RMN-Grand Palais (Château de Fontainebleau) / Gérard Blot


Image : RMN-Grand Palais (Château de Fontainebleau) / Gérard Blot


Source image : Forum de Marie-Antoinette - Fontainebleau, les appartements royaux

La nuit, la neige a écrit:

Bon, je m'y colle, car ce magnifique secrétaire a, bien évidemment, sa place "royale" dans ce sujet !
Le bien connu...

N'est-ce pas !  
C'est à lui que j'ai tout de suite pensé en voyant le titre de ce sujet  :  un must,  et son petit pendant est délicieux aussi !
Merci !

Pour LNLN :



















Clichés (et manipulations ) personnels

Merci beaucoup pour ces photos complémentaires !

Ce petit secrétaire est à couper le souffle !  
Merci, mon cher Momo .

Je reviens avec quelques images complémentaires d'une commode présentée page 1 de ce sujet et citée en lien avec un bureau du même genre présenté en vente aux enchères.
Cette commode exceptionnelle est décorée d'un assemblage fines plaques de feuilles en argent pressées et teintées aux motifs d'une plume de paon ainsi que de fines plaques de nacre naturelle sur fond peint en vert.  

La nuit, la neige a écrit:
The ‘Peacock feather commode’ from Schloss Wilhelmstahl with near-identical mounts is dated circa 1755.  
It is recorded in the ‘Kabinett des Landgrafen’ at Wilhelmstahl in the 1788 inventory as : (...) A Parisian commode on four legs, with mother-of-pearl and green painted peacock feathers inlay, with two drawers, ormolu foliate and floral mounts surmounted by a bluish marble top.

Photo : Christie's
(...)

The Wilhelmstahl commode is similarly applied with mother-of-pearl plaques but these are combined with painted peacock feathers on silver foil in shades of blue and green, and it has a Bardiglio Bleu Fleuris marble top, a marble considered rare and highly prized for its delicate veining. (...)
(...)

The commode, and possibly this bureau de pente, were probably acquired by William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1682-1760) in the mid-1750s for Schloss Wilhelmstahl, designed by François de Cuvilliés (1695-1768), architect to the Elector of Bavaria.

Image : Hessen Film

Johann August Nahl the Elder (1710–1781), ornemeniste, sculptor and stucco worker, the son of Johann Samuel Nahl, court sculptor to Frederick I of Prussia, was engaged to design a series of opulent Rococo interiors, which included furniture, between 1747 and 1761, for the Landgrave’s maison de plaisance, Schloss Wilhelmstahl.
(...)
The interiors of Wilhemstahl and its furniture are largely intact today, and undoubtedly one of the most prized items in the collection is the mother-of-pearl commode.

Im Kabinett des Landgrafen findet sich die unbezahlbare Pfauenkommode mit eingelassenem Perlmutt. MHK.
Foto: A. Hensmann / Miniglobetrotter

Image : Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel 2022

Image : Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel 2022

Kommode (Pfauenfedern)
Künstler / Hersteller  : unbekannt
1755
Material / Technik : Holz: Erle, Buche, Ulme, Nussbaum, Eiche, Nadelholz, Fassung, Perlmutt, Silber, Lüster, Marmor, vergoldetes Messing, Eisen
Maße : H. 91 cm, Br. 98 cm, T. 57 cm (Objektmaß)
Image : Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel 2022

Katalogtext:

Hochfüssig, im Grund und Aufriss geschweift, mit zwei Schubkästen. Auf den Flächen Pfauenfedermuster in gepresstem Silber, naturalistisch bemalt und paarweise gegeneinander gestellt, auf hellgrün gestrichenem Grund. Dieser mit mehrfach beschädigter Decke von papierdünnem Perlmutt belegt. Bronzerahmenwerk als fein profilierte, langezogene Laubranken auf den geschweiften Flächen u. auf den Kanten der Schubkästen. Letztere in der Mitte mit je einem Paar naturalistisch wachsende Pflanzenstengel, die zu hochstehenden Griffen aufgebogen und mit ihren kartuschenartigen belaubten Enden auf die Flächen aufgeschraubt sind. Die fein profilierte Platte aus einem leicht geaderten graublauen Mamor, Carraramaterial. Einzigartige, ornamentreiche Arbeit. Silberauflage. Unter der Platte grün gestrichen, rückwärts desgl. Unterer Boden weiches Holz, Schubladen hartes Holz.
Gehört zum alten Bestand vom Kabinett des Landgrafen. 1814 im südlichen Kabinett des Obergeschosses, 1822 an der jetzigen Stelle. Pariser Arbeit, um 1755

* Source et infos complémentaires : Datenbank.museum-kassel


Image : Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel 2022

La commode sans ses bronzes ni son plateau en marbre :

Image : Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel 2022

Détail sur les décors de feuilles d'argent repoussé et teintes et les plaques de nacre :




Images : Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel 2022

Sortons de notre " zone de confort " et de nos meubles européens habituels...  
Proposée prochainement en vente aux enchères :

RARE TABLE EN BOIS LAQUÉ NOIR INCRUSTÉ DE NACRE
CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, ÉPOQUE KANGXI (1662-1722)
La laque noire recouvrant l’intégralité de la table est agrémentée d’éclats de nacre aux reflets verts et argentés. Le panneau rectangulaire supérieure repose sur quatre pieds cylindriques reliés par une barre d’entretoise sur la largeur et par deux barres d’entretoise sur la longueur. Les pieds sont terminés par des éléments en cuivre. Le revers de la plaque supérieure porte une inscription peinte à trois caractères de yu tang.
Hauteur : 87,5 cm. (34 1/2 in.) ; Longueur : 153,5 cm. (60 1/4 in.) ; Profondeur : 60,4 cm. (23 3/4 in.)



Présentation au catalogue

Il existe plusieurs pièces de mobilier en laque impériales de la dynastie Ming (1644-1911) avec ce décor distinctif en nacre dans les collections du Palace Museum de Pékin, dont une table rectangulaire en laque noire à décor de dragons illustrée dans Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, 2002, p. 128, une bibliothèque en laque noire à décor de dragons illustrée dans la même publication, op. cit., n°186, p. 223, et un écran de table en laque noire, op. cit., n°200, p. 248.
La table présentée peut être comparée avec une table impériale en bois laqué rouge et noire incrustée de nacre et décorée à l’or portant une marque Wanli et de l’époque (1573-1619), vendue chez Christie’s à New York, 15 Septembre 2011, lot 1325.
Notre table peut également être comparée à une table en laque noire incrustée de nacre d'époque Wanli (1572-1620), anciennement dans la collection de Madame Nelson A. Rockefeller, qui s'est vendue chez Christie's New York, Ann and Gordon Getty Collection: Volume 4, Chinese Works of Art, English and European Furniture and Decorative Arts, 23 Octobre 2022, lot 612.



* Source et infos complémentaires : Christie's Paris - Vente du 22 novembre 2022

Rapidement évoqué dans le descriptif d'une commode-secrétaire mécanique de Charles Cressent, il n'était pas question que je laisse filer cette petite merveille sans mieux la présenter ici, même si les quelques incrustations de nacre du décor ne font pas sa spécificité ni sa rareté.  

Conservé au Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), cette table dite "à la Bourgogne"...

Mechanical table à la Bourgogne
By René Dubois (1737–1799, master 1755)
France, ca. 1760
Oak, veneered with Japanese Nambam lacquer; rosewood, gilt-bronze mounts
Dimensions: 74.3 x 61.0 x 39.4 cm

Image : Metropolitan Museum of Art

Description :

Mechanical tables of varying degrees of complexity were popular from the mid-eighteenth century and were made by several prominent ébénistes, in particular Jean-François Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener.

This table, known as a table à la Bourgogne, is stamped R. DUBOIS and dates to ca. 1760. The elegant curves of the legs and lower edge are emphasized by the delicate mounts. These, in turn, are echoed by the fine gold line delineating the lacquer panels while the gilded mounts encasing the feet add further refinement.
The front half of the top opens to reveal a writing surface which is covered with the original brown leather. The rear section of this surface comes up mechanically when activated by a spring mechanism giving access to three tiers with a total of seven drawers.The corner mounts with bulrushes and foliage are found on pieces of furniture made by other makers. They were probably purchased from a Parisian bronze maker and could be acquired by any ébéniste or were provided by a marchand mercier or dealer in luxury goods.

Image : Metropolitan Museum of Art

About 1730, it became fashionable for ébénistes to mount furniture with either actual lacquered panels from East Asia or japanned panels. Here, Japanese lacquer dating to about 1620 has been reused as a veneer.
The table top was probably originally the fall-front of a Namban cabinet sawn in half horizontally. The sides back and front of the table were most likely the sides, top and back of the same cabinet, while the inside of the door and of another portion of the carcass may have been used for the rising section. The drawer fronts possibly derive from those of the dismembered cabinet – in some cases they retain their original pearl-shell border. The piece of lacquer used for the central tier of drawers was too narrow, so that it had to be enlarged with a separate strip on the left-hand side.

Image : Metropolitan Museum of Art

Relatively little is known about this cabinetmaker who stamped his works R. DUBOIS. Elected maître ébéniste in 1757, he worked as both a cabinetmaker and a dealer on the rue Saint-Honoré where he specialized in the sale of toys and pieces of mechanical furniture.
He was probably a relative of the better-known René Dubois [see 1982.60.57] who, with his father Jacques [see, for instance, 1974.356.160] used the stamp I. DUBOIS.

Image : Metropolitan Museum of Art

* Source texte et infos complémentaires : Metmuseum - Mechanical Table a la Bourgogne

La nuit, la neige a écrit: Rapidement évoqué dans le descriptif d'une commode-secrétaire mécanique de Charles Cressent, il n'était pas question que je laisse filer cette petite merveille sans mieux la présenter ici, même si les quelques incrustations de nacre du décor ne font pas sa spécificité ni sa rareté.  

Quelle sveltesse et quelle grâce !
Merci, merci, cher la nuit, la neige, pour la présentation de cette petite splendeur !

Non Élie, je ne connaissais pas cette petite merveille...merci LNLN...je vais suivre ce sujet....avec plaisir.
Little.