CHARLES-GUILLAUME DIEHL, Napoleon III, Boulle Marqueterie Side Cabinet 1850 ca.
A Fine Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Boulle Marqueterie Side Cabinet with a white Carrare marble top.
Stamped CHARLES-GUILLAUME DIEHL (worked 1840-1887).
Made in France, Circa 1850.
Height 115 cm | 45 in / Width 115 cm | 45 in / Depth 44 cm | 17.25 in
A spectacular side cabinet of semi tall design, with an abundance of gilt bronze ormolu mounts and exquisite original Boulle Marqueterie.
Of rectangular semi shallow serpentine breakfront form with concave sides. Exterior in dark brown ebonized wood, gilt bronze serpentine braided cord mounts repeat at various levels. Caryatids gilt bronze females along the outer pillars. Original exquisite Boulle Marqueterie front door panel, across the top and sides. Ormolu mounted bun feet. Original white Carrare marble top.
Interior in mahogany of Cuba. (without shelves).
With original period key. (key does not turn).
Condition Report:
This fine Napoleon iii cabinet has been fully restored and is in excellent condition. Appearance is pristine. Only a few slight imperfections. (please email with any questions).
A complete restoration file will be included at sale. Including a large file of images before and after restoration.
About Napoleon III Style:
The “Second Empire” came about when Louis Napoleon (Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew) declared himself emperor as Napoleon III. Drawing on the past 500 years of French style, the Napoleon III style is an eclectic and somewhat ostentatious mix. Often several furniture styles were mixed for a single piece of furniture. Whimsical shapes, painted wood and mother of pearl were common. Dark woods, ebonized or “japanned” woods, cast iron, paper maché and ivory inlay were implemented. Cabinets, commodes and desks crafted in the manner of Boulle and similar renowned craftsmen of the 18th century became a feature of fashionable salons, though such pieces tended to lack the finesse of the original.
About Charles-Guillaume Diehl:
Of German origin, Charles-Guillaume Diehl was born in Steinbach (Grand-Duché de Hesse) on the 20th July 1811. He moved to Paris in 1840, to 3 rue de Thorigny, and then to 170 rue Saint-Martin, but wasn’t listed in the Almanach du Commerce until 1850. At this point, he set up at 16 rue Michel-le-comte. He then moved to number 21 on the same street (1851-1842) and to number 19, until he died (1853-1885). His workshops were located on 39 rue Saint-Sebastien, where he employed six hundred workers in 1870.
Training Tabletier, he developed his production towards making luxury furniture, attracting crowds at the Universal Exhibitions. Diehl made elegant little pieces of furniture out of rosewood and thuya in the style of Boulle, but instead these ones were caskets (decanters, boxes for games, gloves, cashmere, and jewellery) and were what made him famous. Jules Mesnard, in 1867, summarized Diehl’s production nicely “his work embraces all artistic furniture.
The Parisian and international clientele loved the abundant and tasteful luxury objects that he produced, as much as the pleasingly elegant objects, found in the “articles de Paris” and French marquetry. His marquetry skills were rewarded by a silver medal at the World's Fair of 1867 in Paris. Outside this production; he was known for his furniture, tables, bases of cabinets, cabinets, often of very high quality, decorated with bronze or panels or elegant marquetry. During the World's Fair of 1878 in Paris, although he had obtained French nationally in 1872 (remarkable considering it was not even two years after the defeat of Sedan); Diehl was disqualified from the competition because of his passed success.