Aurelien Gendras Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
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16th Century Carved Walnut Credenza from Toulouse Workshops
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This two bodies cabinet shows in its upper part a triple arcature with four balusters. This architectural element gives depth to the body, highlighted by the gilt back upon which app...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cupboards
Materials
Walnut
Important and sober Italian Renaissance Credenza
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
ORIGIN : ITALY, VENICE
PERIOD : 16th CENTURY
Height: 103 cm
Length: 174 cm
Depth 45 cm
Walnut
Usual restoration
The low sideboard with several doors became more common in the...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Credenzas
Materials
Walnut
Italian Credenza at Sideboard height
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Italy, Florence
Walnut wood
Good state of preservation
Former Collection Bresset
The "credenza" is a typical piece of furniture from Italy. It evolved during the 15th century from an earlier form, a table with shelves for decorative purposes, which played a role in the ceremonial settings of refined environments. Transformed into a low cabinet with two doors...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Credenzas
Materials
Walnut
Rare and Important German Renaissance Chest
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Oakwood
Original lock and key
This beautiful and robust chest stands on square feet ending in flattened buns. The base presents plain mouldings. The facade is divided in four panel...
Category
Antique 16th Century German Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Wood, Walnut
Important 1925 Dresser with Birchbark and Inlaid with Minerals
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
IMPORTANT 1925 DRESSER WITH BIRCHBARK AND INLAID WITH MINERALS
Unique piece
Sophie Gallardo & Georges Cassan
Height: 93 cm
Length: 137 cm
Width: 56 cm
Birch bark marquetry and min...
Category
2010s Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Materials
Birch
Wooden Chest Carved with Two Crenellated Towers
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
WOODEN CHEST CARVED WITH TWO CRENELLATED TOWERS
ORIGIN: SOUTH WEST OF FRANCE
PERIOD: 16th CENTURY
Height: 64,5 cm
Length: 124 cm
Depth: 53 cm
Chestnut wood
Good condi...
Category
Antique 16th Century Blanket Chests
Materials
Chestnut
Console Jewellery III by Michel Kiriliuk
By Michel Kiriliuk
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Unique piece. Dated 1990.
Engraved brass, metal and glass slab.
This unique and original piece of art was sculpted by Michel Kiriliuk. Born French and self-educated this sculptor...
Category
20th Century European Cupboards
Materials
Metal, Brass
Burgundian Renaissance Cabinet Depicting the Four Evangelists
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
The cabinet’s upper body, slightly recessed is topped by an overlapping entablature and cornice supported both in the front and the rear by four fluted columns.
The lower body stands on four squared feet and a moulded base. Each door-leaf’s panel is centred by a low-relief carving presenting one of the four evangelists...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
French Renaissance Armoire
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Original lock and key
This piece of furniture shows no recess on its upper part. It opens with four folding-doors and two drawers within the belt. The key bears the date 1524 above cross motifs.
Burgundy and Lyon regions subordinated themselves to architecture in a different manner than the other french schools. Rather than using particularly columns and pediments pieces of furniture from Lyon borrow architecture’s organization principles and rigorous designs.
On the upper body a strong feeling of balance and symmetry appears with the folding doors reliefs. Swags of flowers and fruits held with knot cloth centered by a man seating on his arms. Here profiles, masks and chou de Bourgogne mingle with the structuring scrolls. The two lateral terms wear draperies and the goddess Diana in the center wears a belt of fruits similar to Hugue Sambin’s designs (Termes de Diane et de Venus, 1554, BNF).
The two palm-leaves enriched drawers and the alternating scrolls belt balance the weight of the cornice with its alternatings consoles and tops.
The lower body is also adorned by three terms with a feminine one in the center, all three are wearing fruits on their heads. The folding doors are centered upon a motif of cut cuirs by a mask in high relief. Wearing a feathered tiara...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Wardrobes and Armoires
Materials
Walnut
Small Spanish Polychrome Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This low, small sized cabinet opens thanks two door-leaves adorned with flowers and drapes. The rest of the cabinet bears a painted decor emulating marble with red veins.
Category
Antique 17th Century Spanish Other Cabinets
Materials
Oak
Renaissance Cupboard from Loire Valley, 'France'
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This cabinet is composed of two bodies, the upper one being recessed. The extraordinary proportions are enriched by a mythological and floral carved decor.
The Lower body stands o...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Important Renaissance Cabinet from Lyon 'France' with a Decor of Perspectives
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
As soon as 1540 France's second Renaissance is in the making, intimately linked to the rediscovery of the Antique world. The development of the printing and engraving industry allows the spread of artworks and models in many cities and countries. The Italian influence can be perceived in every artistic field. While the French king entrust the most talented Italian artists with major projects such as Il Rosso or Primaticcio in Fontainebleau, French artists also travel to Italy to form themselves to this new style. In Italy they get acquainted with the work of Leo Battista Alberti the first to theorize perspective (De Pictura, 1435-36) and architecture (De re oedificatoria, 1541). Those two publications would have a revolutionary impact on arts.
Furniture is marked by the work of the most famous Italian architects of the time as well as French architects. Indeed Philibert de l'Orme competes with Alberti and by the end of his life publishes several treaties including one devoted to a theory of architecture (1567). Unfortunately he would not live to complete the second volume. In this treaty he expresses his interest for mathematical norms applied to architecture, copied from the Antique. His journeys in Italy allowed him to accumulate the most sophisticated references. Jean Bullant, another architect of great talent also theorizes his practice. He establishes rules characterizing Greco-Roman art staying faithful to Vitruvius.
Following this new inspiration the structure of furniture evolves. From then on appear columns, capitals, cornices, friezes and architraves. The ornamentation uses this inspiration as well with egg-and-dart, palm leaf and rose adorning the most beautiful pieces.
In Lyon, crossroad where meet merchants from everywhere those new experiments are welcomed. Lyon florishing printing industry allows the spreading of models and treaties essential to the artist's work. Thus the first publication of Vitruvius' De Architectura in France would be printed in Lyon in 1532.
Artists from Lyon rediscover and familiarize themselves with the Antique knowledge very early. They adopt those new ideas and use them in their own creations. Lyon cabinet-makers re interpret Antique architecture and Italian Renaissance palaces to give their pieces a pure and harmonious architectural structure. Grooved pilasters are particularly favored. They are topped by capitals of diverse orders always respecting the sequencing with simpler ones for the lower levels and the richest ones on the higher levels. As for the ornamentation, one of the great distinctiveness of Lyon workshops remains the architectural perspective illusions, drawing inspiration from Tuscany.
True masterpiece of the Second French Renaissance this important cabinet illustrates Lyon workshops' taste for fine Italian architecture inspired by Antiquity. An architectural perspective of great quality is treated in symmetry on each panel.
This two-bodied cabinet without recess stands on four rectangular feet. The base comprises a molding, a palm leaf frieze and is bordered by a braid.
The lower body is divided by three grooved pilasters with Tuscan capitals framing two door-leaves. The two panels are encircled by a moudled frame with palm leaves. They are finely carved with a decor of fantasized architecture depicting an Italian Renaissance palace erected symmetrically on each side of a grooved pilaster. On the ground floor a door opens through a stilted arch while the stories are opened with mullioned windows, dormers and occuli. Two large pegged-boss cladded pillars support the entablature enriched by a palm leaf frieze upon which stands an arch whose coffered intrados is centred by a rose. Behind this arch a pyramid appears, standing in front of a second facade with a window topped by a broken curvilinear pediment under a cul-de-four with a shell.
The checker flooring gives depth to the low-reliefs creating vanishing points structuring the panels and guiding the eye of the observer.
A thin laurel braid highlights the belt of the cabinet where are located two drawers. Their facades are adorned by palm leaves in hoops.
The upper body is encircled with palm leaves. The same ternary division as in the lower body appears. However, the pilasters are topped by Ionic capitals with volutes and egg-and-dart. The door-leaves are framed with flowers. On the panels the artist has designed another architectural decor. On the foreground open two arches on top of grooved pilasters with rectangular capitals adorned with palm leaves. The arches are enriched with braids and the coffered intrados bears a decor of roses. The spandrels also bear a flower decor. In the background another arcature hosts a fluted grooved column topped with double basket acanthus capital, characteristic of Corinthian order. The triangular pediment is interrupted by a choux bourguignon.
A large cornice crowns the cabinet. It stands on pilasters and forms an entablature comprising a palm leaf frieze and an egg-and-dart, triglyph and palm leaf cornice.
The cabinet's sides have also been carefully considered. The lower body's panels are enriched with an arch rising above a broken pediment portico hosting a twisted column. Flowers garnish the spandrels. An architectural facade completes the decor. The upper body's panels present two arches supported by a facade opened with dormers and mullioned windows as well as cartouches (one bears the inscription 1580 dating the cabinet) suggesting the interior of an Italian Renaissance palace, confirmed by the chandeliers. The flooring leads our gaze to a second arch with a broken curvilinear pediment where stands a flower vase. This arch opens onto a perspective of another facade along a road.
Inside the cabinet, on the lower body door-leaves appear two designs. On the right door is depicted a Crucifixion. Saint Mary and Saint John flank the Christ on the cross. In the bottom part is inscribed « Dure uiator abis nihil haec spectacula curas / Pendenti cum sis unica cura Deo. / Tota suo moriente dolet natura Magistro. / Nil qui solus eras caussa dolenda doles. ». The signature [Christoff Swartz Monachiensis pinx[it] / Ioa[nnes] Sadeler sculp[it]] tells us it was made by Johan Sadeler I (1550-1600) after Christoph Schwartz (1548-1592). This engraving belongs to an ensemble depicting the Passion of Christ Johan Sadeler executed in 1589 after an altar piece painted by Christoph Schwartz for the private chapel of Renée of Loraine, wife of Duke William V of Bavaria. This altar piece made of nine copper panels has been destroyed during the 19th century. The Crucifixion panel once in the centre of the altar piece is the only one that survived and is today kept in Munich's Alte Pinakothek.
On the left door appears Saint Francis receiving the stigmata. The inscription says : « Signastidomine Servum Tuum. Franciscum. Signis Redemptionis Nostrae ».
This Renaissance cabinet with an architectural decor appearing as much in the structure faithful to Antique rules...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Large 16th Century Tuscan Wedding Chest Called "Cassone"
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Large wedding chest in tinted and gilded walnut, the lid animated with a frieze of pearls, the sides with compartments, the belt decorated with gadroons. It rests on four claw feets.
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Renaissance Palace Wardrobe with Perspectival Views
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
A rare carved walnut wardrobe opening with four door-leaves and two drawers in the lower part. The doors bear architectural views in low reliefs, fluted pilasters and Ionic capitals.
Upper Body
Two door-leaves with carved architectural perspectives open the wardrobe framed by three fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals.
Each door-leaf depict two semi-circular arcades whose cornice and base shows a central vanishing point. Likewise the pavement’s lines act for the artisan as a way to create depth. The vaulting instead leads us to think the vanishing point has to be situated where the handle is, between the two complementaries reliefs.
The elegant moulded belt hides an internal secret space, accessible through a moveable plank in the upper body.
Lower Body
Two door-leaves identical to those of the upper body framed by three fluted pilasters with Doric capitals. The base of the wardrobe opens with two large drawers.
The sides also bear panels depicting architectural perspectives. The external pilasters share their Ionic capital with the facade’s pilasters. Thus we can observe on the wardrobe’s sides the capital’s lateral parts with the elegant volute specific to the Ionic order.
This palace wardrobe is topped by an overlapping cornice standing on three consoles for the facade and two consoles on each sides. Placed right above the pilasters each console are adorned by fully expanded leaves.
During the 15th century a major interest for architecture and perspective studies arises and influences patrons tastes. The work of great theorists such as Leon Battista Alberti...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Wardrobes and Armoires
Materials
Walnut
Rare Gothic German Oak and Iron Chest Known as "Stollentruhe"
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This large chest stands on high legs prolonging the lateral jambs. Presenting a sober and severe appearance the chest still belongs to the Medieval tradition. The piece is made from very high quality Hungarian wood.
The jambs are joined to the facade and the lateral sides thanks to pegged mortise and tenon securing a great stability and squareness between each parts. The upper lid is made of two joined parts and so is the facade.
The ironwork is present all over the surface of the chest and brings both an additional stability to the construction as well as a rich decor. The lid is secured with hinges. Hinges also run all over the chest in horizontal and vertical lines, ending in a floral motif. The hasp lock is also very ornamental.
Those chests always present important proportions especially when they are made early in the period. This model was very popular in Germany and stayed in vogue until the 16th century. However the feet Gothic decor...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier German Gothic Blanket Chests
Materials
Wrought Iron
16th Century French Walnut Cabinet with Marble Inlays
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
On the left post of the lower body, is written the date 1596 in a cartouche
This cabinet has two bodies. The upper part, set back, is moulded and carved. At the bottom, the cabine...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
French Renaissance Cabinet with Perspectives
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This Renaissance Cabinet reveals the great mastery of the Lyon workshops which are at the origin of its realization. Sculptors and wood-carvers worked here in symbiosis to express an...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
17th Century Emblazoned Germanic Armoire
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This interesting oak cabinet of germanic workmanship is a wedding furniture.
The cabinet rests on a molded base, opens with two doors located on e...
Category
Antique 17th Century German Other Wardrobes and Armoires
Materials
Oak
Exceptional Italian Renaissance Cassone with Rich Carving on a Gilt Background
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
The lower part of the facade is adorned with a foliated and fruit garland.
The facade’s central panel bears a low-relief decor framed by a rais-de-cœur frieze. The central scene a...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Rare Renaissance Dresser with Marquetry and Pastiglia, from Alsace 'France'
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This sideboard, with rich marquetry decoration, consists of two parts. The decorated upper body allows for the display of fine silverware. Superb carve...
Category
Antique Early 17th Century French Renaissance Dressers
Materials
Walnut
Renaissance Cabinet form Lyon 'France'
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Condition : Partly dating from the Renaissance. The backs and the drawer’s insides have been re-done.
Historical background
The 16th century is a prosperous period for Lyon...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
First French Renaissance Dresser
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Provenance : Chabrières Arlès collection then through descent
Under the reign of Henry II, during the French Renaissance, the rigour of composi...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Dressers
Materials
Oak
Carved Tuscan Wedding Cassone, Renaissance Period
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This cassone, remarkable for its sobriety, sits on two clawed lion’s feet and a moulded base.
On the façade, there is one large, moulded frame, with two soberly carved medallions inside it. Each medallion has a painted coat of arms at the centre. The two coats of arms are different, suggesting that there was an alliance between two families through marriage.
The thick lid has a fluted frieze at the front.
On the sides, a wrought iron handle reminds us of the use of this piece, which was intended for storing the property of its owner and allowing them to travel between various residences. The square shaped handles highlight the earliness of this object in the century.
The cassone is, along with the bed, a key piece of furniture of the Middle Ages and was still used in the Renaissance Period.
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Renaissance Walnut Dresser
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
The Middle Ages dresser is a piece of furniture divided in two parts. The bottom part is open while the upper part is full and closed.
The upper part is decorated with an abundanc...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Dressers
Materials
Walnut
16th Century Cabinet with Knights Carving from Avignon Workshops 'France'
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Collection Jean Thuile
Around the mid-sixteenth century French furnishing evolves in its conception and ornamentation. The start of major archi...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
16th Century Renaissance Two-Bodied Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Former collection Altounian
At the beginning of the reign of Henri II (1547-1559) the furniture’s ornamentation evolves. The few medieval motifs that were still used are eventually relinquished. Furniture becomes more sober showcasing moulded panels and perfect architecture. Cabinet-makers use ornaments such as curved fluted or plain columns, feather quills, roses or winged putti heads. High-relief carving becomes more scarce and compositions lighter. To that end cabinet-makers draw inspiration from Fontainebleau motifs filtering them and adapting them to French taste.
During this period cabinet-makers turn into a kind of architects. Indeed the architectural balance of furniture is the centre of their concerns. The study of Antic formulas is then a necessity. From this care given to proportions appear refined cabinets with pure lines.
This style is characteristic of the reign of Henri II and disappears soon after under the regency of Catherine de Medici (1560-1574) when an abundance of high and low-relief ornaments comes back on furnitures.
This two-bodies cabinet...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Gothic Revival Apothecary Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Wooden apothecary cabinet with carved decoration in neo-Gothic style. The capitals are carved with Baphomets holding two figures by the hair for one and fantastic birds for the other...
Category
Early 20th Century European Gothic Revival Wardrobes and Armoires
Materials
Oak
Sophie Gallardo and Georges Cassan, "Louis XIII Period Chest"
By George-Guillaume CASSAN, Sophie GALLARDO
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Measures: Height : 60 cm
Length: 116 cm
Width : 67 cm
Birch bark marquetry and mineral inlays
Interior : turn inside out calf
Original silver metal hinge
Sophie Gallardo has studied interior design before learning wood painting restoration...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Other Blanket Chests
Materials
Birch
Sophie Gallardo and Georges Casssan, "Australian Desk", Unic and Stamped Piece
By George-Guillaume CASSAN, Sophie GALLARDO
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Full height : 133 cm including 2 cm marble
Length : 90 cm
Depth : 44 cm
Table top : 82.5 x 70 cm
Inner dimensions « lower part »
Length : 76 cm
Depth : 44 cm
Made from an Italian desk from the late 1940s.
Birch bark marquetry and mineral inlays : stone, labradorite (inside outside), amethyst, crystals. The inside is enriched with straw marquetry and patinated silver foils.
The two doors present marquetry on both sides with an inner mirror to provide light and reflect the top marquetry. Rock crystal handles, Rain forest green marble from Rajahstan.
Sophie Gallardo has studied interior design before learning wood painting restoration...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Other Secretaires
Materials
Birch
Italian Renaissance Cassone with the Coat of Arms of the Bonfanti Family
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This Italian walnut chest called « cassone » is shaped as an antic sarcophagus. The beautiful patina and the plain lid bring to the fore the facade richly ornated with vegetal motifs...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Tuscan Renaissance Wrought Iron and Walnut Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
The lower part
It stands on an ogee molded base and four feet with two front legs more massive and detailed than the others.
It opens with two doors and three drawers.
The vert...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Wrought Iron
16th Century French Carved Renaissance Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Rare carved Renaissance cabinet
Period : 2nd half 16th century, ca. 1570
Origin : France, Burgundy or Languedoc
This cabinet embody the produ...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Exceptional Renaissance Cabinet from Lyon
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Exceptional Renaissance Cabinet from Lyon
Origin: Lyon, France
Period: 1540-1580, Second French Renaissance
Measures: Height: 188 cm
Length: 132 cm
...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Exceptional Italian Renaissance "Cassone"
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Exceptional Italian Renaissance « Cassone »
Origine : Italy, Florence or Siena
Period : Late 15th Century
Measures: Height: 63 cm
Length: 1...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Renaissance Cabinet from Burgundy or Lyon Region
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Renaissance cabinet from Burgundy Or Lyon Region
Origin : Burgundy Or Lyon, France
Period : Second Half 16th Century, C. 1580
Height : 209cm
Length : 184cm
Depth : 71cm
Good condition
Walnut wood, original keys and keyholes
Around the middle of the 16th century the conception and ornamentation of French furniture evolves. The start of major building projects, such as the castle of Fontainebleau, gives artists a new impulse. Inventive and rich formulas are developed there, before spreading to all of Europe thanks to engravings and printed leaflets. Furthermore, Italian artists working on such construction sites bring French artists and patrons a renewed taste for the Antique.
Regarding the art of furnitures, the most complex scenes and figures are drawn from illustrated books, ornament and emblem compendiums and engraving compilations. Rather than copying those images the artisans feed their inspiration and decline the motifs in numerous variations.
The ornamental grammar marks a return to the Antique : palm leaf, acanthus, egg-and-dart, greek, scroll, fluted pilaster… It is in Primaticcio’s and Il Rosso’s stuccos made around 1540-1550 that we have to look for the origin of leather cut-outs, masks, chimaeras, harpies, sheathed figures, fruit and flower garlands that soon enrich every pieces of French furniture.
The structure of the pieces of furniture also evolve thanks to the re discovery of Antique architectures, rigorously used as a model.
This cabinet presents an imposing structure and a rich and original decor exemplifying the production of the late 16th century, infused with Italian, Antique and Fontainebleau influences.
It stands on a moulded base ornate with palm leaves. It opens with four door-leaves and two drawers in the belt. Six whimsical terms divide the facade.
The lower body is horizontally divided by three sheathed female terms. The two standing on the lateral posts are topped with fruits while the body is covered by acanthus leaves carved with precision, belted at the waist. The term standing on the central door-jamb is crowned with laurel leaves and is draped in the Antique fashion. A wincing mask hides the key hole.
The two door-leaves are centred by a beautiful mask carved in a strong relief. They wear stylised feathered headdress and are set on draperies. Straps, leather scrolls, acanthus leaves and a shell are spread around the masks. The recessed panels are secured in frames ornate with acanthus leaves.
The belt is flanked by two large mouldings enriched with variations of acanthus leaves. The drawers are carved with choux bourguignons and palm leaf motifs minutely executed. The consoles between each drawer bear tormented wincing masks, showing horns as if they were fauns or imps.
The upper body is framed by two male terms characterised by a strong and nervous musculature, their manhood hidden by drapes secured thanks to a winged lion head. The term on the left appears to be younger and is wincing while the one on the right has a beard. The central female term brings contrast with her youth and sensuality. As it is the case on the lower body, the key hole is hidden behind the mouth of a faun’s mask placed on the drapes barely covering the intimacy of the caryatid.
The panels of the upper body present an idealised architecture comprising pilasters and sinuous broken pediments. The pilasters are flanked by two satyrs with goat legs. In the centre appears an important lion mask.
The terms of the upper body support the cornice. The entablature carries palm leaves and roses alternating as well as an egg-and-dart frieze. The cornice is adorned with acanthus motifs.
On the sides, the carving is executed flat. A central rose is surrounded by scrolls, flowers and choux bourguignons.
We can admire the variety of the elements employed. The artist vary with great genius many different ornamental motifs : palm leaf, egg-and-dart, laurel leaf, roses, scrolls … But the artist went even further as each profile and each face is individualised and presents different features. You can take a look at the faces of the satyrs flanking the upper body’s panels. The talent of the artist is undeniable.
It makes no doubt the patron who commissioned this cabinet was an aesthete looking for the greatest quality.
The artist who authored this cabinet had a great mastery of composition both in the general design and in the individual panels. They probably drew inspiration from engravings and drawings made especially for the making of this piece of furniture or not. They seem to be familiar with the style of Jacques Androuet du Cerceau. Indeed, we can find in Du Cerceau’s engravings the same juxtapositions of leather cut-outs, masks and fruits. The terms and caryatids used on the facade could very well be inspired by his work as well. The cabinet-maker was also undoubtedly observant of Hugues Sambin, the most famous cabinet-maker and sculptor in the Burgundy of the time. Like Du Cerceau, Sambin left an important ensemble of models particularly useful for the design of cabinets. His publication De l’Oeuvre de la diversité des termes dont on use en architecture (1572) was an essential book for every artisan.
All the motifs testify of the artisan’s high knowledge of forms as well as the precision of their tools : super imposition of ornamental elements, foliages, architectural cut-outs, flat and high reliefs alternating, palm leaves inscribed in circular spaces, wincing faces. It is also a testimony of the artisan’s familiarity with Italian and Fontainebleau productions.
Because of the proficiency of the cabinet-maker in so many different models, this cabinet truly is a master-piece authored by the hand of an authentic master.
The generous carvings executed with great rigour and virtuosity evoke an origin close to Burgundy and Lyon workshops. This cabinet was made by a master of the region during the Second French Renaissance.
Literature
BOCCADOR Jacqueline, Le mobilier français du Moyen-Âge à la Renaissance, Édition d’art Morelle Mayot, 1996
BOS Agnès (dir.), Mobilier du Moyen âge et de la Renaissance, La collection du musée du Louvre, Louvre éditions...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Italian Renaissance Wedding Cassone
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Italian Renaissance wedding cassone
Origin : Northern Italy, Between Milan And Bologne
Period : 15th Century
Height : 55 cm
Width : 156.5 cm
D...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Fontainbleau Renaissance Cabinet Bearing the Dodieu’s Family Coat-of-arms
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Fontainebleau renaissance cabinet bearing the Dodieu’s family coat-of-arms
Origin : ILe De France, School of Fontainebleau
Period : Second ...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut, Ebony
Rare Renaissance Cabinet Richly Carved
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
This rare Renaissance cabinet is richly decorated on the doors and drawers with carvings depicting the four seasons, and on the uprights and the entablature, alternating flower bouquets inlaid with mother of pearl. This is a beautifully conceived piece of furniture, representing a crowned portico with its entablature and cornice.
The upper body
Articulated separately in a ternary rhythm, as with the lower body, the upper part opens with two carved doors. The doors are framed by both the lateral uprights and the casing. There are cartouches carved into the casing in which mythological figures are depicted with flower bouquets.
On the doors:
On the right: Spring, a female figure crowned with a wreath of leaves, holding a basket full of flowers. She is wearing necklaces and bracelets on each arm, with drapery discretely wrapped around her body and is standing on a winged putti’s head. On each side are depicted a tree and a village with a steepled church. Above her head floats the three signs of the zodiac corresponding to the season: Aries, Taurus and Gemini.
On the left: Summer, a bearded man crowned with ears of corn and bearing armfuls of corn. He is standing on a similar winged putti, flanked by a tree and an ear of corn. The following three signs of the zodiac appear: Cancer, Leo and Virgo.
On the uprights and the central casing a number of smaller figures seem to represent virtues and vices that newly wedded couples should aspire to and avoid.
On each side, at the bottom of the uprights, there is a dog representing fidelity. Above, a lion embodies power, wisdom, and justice.
In between, on the left upright, there is a figure of noncombatant Athena wearing a helmet and holding a spear, an arrow pointing down and in her left hand, a shield, symbol of protective power. On the right upright, the goddess Venus controls the arrow of Cupid.
The iconography here acts as a clear reminder of the required virtues that both parts of a young couple need to fulfill: fidelity, power, wisdom and justice. For him, the goddess Athena focuses on the power. Whereas for her, it is Venus who shows how to control Cupid’s arrow.
On the central casing at the bottom, by way of contrast, there is a peacock, a symbol of pride and at the top, a monkey representing lust and mischief. In between, a woman holding a chain and a cup full of precious stones while on the floor sits a half empty opened casket. This can be interpreted as a symbol of extravagance.
Above, the entablature, decorated with male figures resting on leaking urns, may symbolize the passing of time. They are flanked by two consoles decorated with acanthus leaves and separated by flower bouquets (inlaid with mother of pearl). Finally on top, a cornice acts as a crown for the piece of furniture.
The lower body
The moulded base stands on four round, flattened feet.
Represented on the doors:
On the left: Autumn, a stocky, naked man crowned with vine leaves, holding fruits in his right hand and with his left, picking a bunch of grapes from a climbing vine. Standing on a mound, he is surrounded by a vine and a hill, at the foot of which a man presses the grapes in a big vat after the harvest. Above the climbing vine appear the signs of Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius.
On the right: Winter, an elderly man wearing a fur cloak...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Small Renaissance Cabinet from Lyon
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Small renaissance cabinet from Lyon.
ORIGIN: FRANCE, SCHOOL OF LYON
PERIOD: 16th CENTURY
Height:151cm
Depth: 120cm
Length: 54cm
Walnut ...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
French Renaissance Cabinet with a Quill-Feather Decor
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Renaissance cabinet with a quill-feather decor.
ORIGIN: FRANCE
PERIOD: 16th CENTURY
Height : 162 cm
Length : 134 cm
Depth : 54.5 cm
Blond w...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Curved Lid Chest
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
CURVED LID CHEST
ORIGIN : SPAIN
PERIOD : EARLY 16th CENTURY, CA. 1500
Height : 49 cm
Length : 106 cm
Depth : 42 cm
Softwood
Wrought iron, nails, hasp lock...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Blanket Chests
Materials
Wrought Iron
Small Cabinet by l'Ecole de Fontainebleau Incrusted with Marble Tablets
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Small cabinet by L’ecole De Fontainebleau Incrusted with marble tablets
Origin : VAL-DE-LOIRE, France
Period : 16th century
Measures: Height : 170...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Important Travel Chest with a Domed Top
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
IMPORTANT TRAVEL CHEST WITH A DOMED TOP
ORIGIN : SPAIN
PERIOD : 16th CENTURY
Height : 72 cm
Length : 125 cm
Depth : 56 cm
Walnut
Boarded and Studded
Good Condition
...
Category
Antique 16th Century Blanket Chests
Materials
Walnut
Rare Italian Renaissance Perspectives Sideboard with Fan-shaped Pedestal
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
RARE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE PERSPECTIVES SIDEBOARD WITH FAN-SHAPED PEDESTAL
ORIGIN: TUSCANY, FLORENCE
PERIOD: 16th CENTURY
Height : 143.5 cm
Length : 133 cm
Depth : 54 cm
Li...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Small Two-Body Buffet Decorated with Bird Quills
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Small two-body buffet decorated with bird feathers
ORIGIN : FRANCE
PERIOD : 16th CENTURY
Measures: height: 170 cm
length: 106 cm
depth: 51 cm
Walnut wood
This cha...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Renaissance Armoirette Frontage
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Renaissance Armoirette frontage
ORIGINE: FRANCE
EPOQUE : 16th CENTURY
Measures: height : 90 cm
length : 65 cm
depth : 10 cm
Walnut
The armoirette is used to store valu...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Small Renaissance Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Small renaissance cabinet
ORIGIN : FRANCE
PERIOD : END OF THE 16th CENTURY
Measures: height: 167 cm
length: 123 cm
depth: 58 cm
This small two-part unit with harmonious proportions opens with four front leaves and two belt drawers. It rests on a molded base.
The uprights and the central frame of the lower body are adorned with long stylized palmettes. They frame the four leaves on which unfolds a vegetal decoration made of stems and leaves sculpted in symmetry around two mascarons topped with feathers...
Category
Antique 16th Century French Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Florentine Credenza with Corner Columns
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
FLORENTINE CREDENZA WITH CORNER COLUMNS
ORIGIN : TOSCANY, ITALY
PERIOD : LATE 16th CENTURY
Height: 84 cm
Width: 101 cm
Depth: 48 cm
Walnut wood
Although the first Italian cre...
Category
Antique 16th Century Credenzas
Materials
Walnut
Rare Renaissance Florentine Cabinet with Certosina Decoration
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
RARE RENAISSANCE FLORENTINE WALNUT CABINET WITH CERTOSINA DECORATION
ORIGIN: FLORENCE, ITALY
PERIOD: END OF 15th CENTURY – BEGINNING OF 16th CENTURY
Height: 129 cm
Length: 107 cm...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Important Cabinet with Two Body in Blackened Wood Carved and Engraved
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
IMPORTANT CABINET WITH TWO BODY IN BLACKENED WOOD CARVED AND ENGRAVED
ORIGIN: FRANCE
PERIOD: 17TH CENTURY
Height: 188 cm
Width: 135 cm
Depth: 53.5 cm
Blackened wood and veneer: rosewood, ebony, pear, mahogany
Framed in oak wood
A real ceremonial piece of furniture, this two-part cabinet opens with two historiated panels and two drawers in the upper part and two leaves and two belt drawers in the lower part.
Richly worked, it offers both inside and outside a floral decoration, finely engraved which contrasts with the importance given to geometric lines. This duality, typical of this type of cabinet, confirms its dating and its origin.
In addition, the gilded metal locks and fittings enhance the sumptuous trait of this piece of furniture and also contribute to its ornamentation.
Furniture of predilection for “enclosing the most precious things” (Furetière, Dictionnaire, 1690) the appearance of cabinets in the 16th century accompanied the development of wunderkammern, these cabinets of curiosities enriched both by the vogue for the antique and by distant expeditions which bring back with them natural wonders and rare testimonies of distant civilisations. The curious, combining fortune and culture, brings together antique medals, rare plants, fossils, or oriental ornaments. This meeting of pieces which embodies much more than their material reality, a subjective evocation of all the riches of the earth and all the knowledge of men, acts in the eyes of its owner like a microcosm of which he is the master and which he enjoys according to his will.
This is how the first cabinets were designed to be transportable, often wooden structures calling for riches only those they housed for a collector who refused to part with them, even temporarily.
In the 17th century, the cabinet gained in technical complexity and luxurious materials until it could no longer be moved itself and became a prized and expensive collector’s item...
Category
Antique 17th Century Cabinets
Materials
Ebony, Mahogany, Pearwood, Rosewood
Important Wardrobe of the Hansen Republics
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
IMPORTANT WARDROBE OF THE HANSEAN REPUBLICS
ORIGIN : NORTHERN GERMANY
PERIOD : LATE 16th – EARLY 17th CENTURY
Height : 222 cm
Width : 198 cm
Depth : 78 cm
Lacquered and gilded oak...
Category
Antique 17th Century Wardrobes and Armoires
Materials
Oak
Exceptional Cathedral Chest
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
EXCEPTIONAL CATHEDRAL CHEST
ORIGIN: GERMANY
PERIOD: 15th CENTURY
Height : 77 cm
Length : 147 cm
Depth : 58 cm
Perfect state of preservation
This rare Gothic Cathedral Chest with...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Blanket Chests
Materials
Iron
Rare Renaissance Cabinet with Feather quill and Fenestration Decoration
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
RARE RENAISSANCE CABINET WITH FEATHER QUILL AND FENESTRATION DECORATION
ORIGIN: FRANCE
PERIOD: EARLY 16th CENTURY
DIMENSIONS :
Height : 178 cm
Length : 145 cm
Depth : 58 cm
Walnu...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Important Italian Renaissance Polychrome Chest with Coat-of-Arms
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Important Italian Renaissance Polychrome chest with coat-of-arms
Origin: Italy
Period: early 16th century
Height: 71cm
Length: 190cm
Depth: ...
Category
Antique 16th Century Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Wood
Small Renaissance Cabinet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
SMALL RENAISSANCE CABINET
ORIGIN: PROVENCE
PERIOD: END OF THE 16th CENTURY
Height: 175cm
Length: 102cm
Depth: 50cm
Blond walnut
This small cabin...
Category
Antique 16th Century Cabinets
Materials
Walnut
Rare Cabinet depicting the Four Elements
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
RARE CABINET DEPICTING THE FOUR ELEMENTS
ORIGIN : FRANCE
PERIOD : CIRCA 1600
Height: 178 cm
Width: 112 cm
Depth: 50 cm
Former Perpitch Collection
Forme...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Wood, Walnut
Swiss Chest richly carved, Riedmatten family, framed by two Holy conversations
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
SWISS CHEST RICHLY CARVED WITH THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE RIEDMATTEN FAMILY FRAMED BY TWO HOLY CONVERSATIONS
ORIGIN : SWITZERLAND, VALAIS CANTON
PERIOD : END OF 16th CENTURY – EARLY 17...
Category
Antique 16th Century Swiss Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Wood, Walnut
Florentine Renaissance Cassone with decor of vines and grape clusters
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
ORIGIN : ITALY, TUSCANY
PERIOD : 16th CENTURY
DIMENSIONS :
Height : 73 cm
Length : 180 cm
Depth: 57 cm
Good condition
Walnut wood
This significant Florentine cassone in the shape of a sarcophagus features a beautiful front panel flanked at the corners by two mascarons surrounded by voluted acanthus leaves. It rests on two lion's paw feet at the front.
The decoration includes a beautiful frieze of scales at the bottom, which continues on the sides. Above this, in the center, a scrollwork cartouche once bore coats of arms. On either side, there is an abundant vegetal decor with vine branches and sumptuous grape clusters.
The domed top lid is adorned around its edge with a wide frieze featuring a scale motif, harmoniously matching the lower cornice.
This beautiful cassone is interesting for several reasons. The choice of ornamentation is not random. Grapes have numerous meanings and are often associated with fertility, especially when represented on a wedding cassone...
Category
Antique 16th Century Italian Renaissance Blanket Chests
Materials
Wood, Walnut
A Rare Renaissance Walnut Cabinet With Its Freestanding Carved Columns
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
A RARE RENAISSANCE WALNUT CABINET WITH ITS FREESTANDING CARVED COLUMNS
ORIGIN : FRANCE, BURGUNDY
PERIOD : 16th CENTURY
Height : 218 cm
Length : 152 cm
Depth : 67.5 cm
Walnut
Thi...
Category
Antique 16th Century European Renaissance Cabinets
Materials
Wood, Walnut
Spanish Chest with Arcade design
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
SPANISH CHEST WITH ARCADE DESIGN
ORIGIN: SPAIN
PERIOD: LATE 15TH – EARLY 16TH CENTURY
DIMENSIONS:
Height: 61 cm
Length: 135 cm
Depth: 48 cm
Chestnut wood
Good condition
This H...
Category
Antique 16th Century Spanish Gothic Blanket Chests
Materials
Wood, Chestnut