REF NO : B68915

Guillaume et Jean-Michel Grohé

A Large Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Buffet

France, Circa 1860

£90,000

A Large and Impressive Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Buffet With a Rouge Marble Top by Maison Grohé. This exceptional buffet is made from...

Dimensions

Height: 109 cm (43 in)
Width: 218 cm (86 in)
Depth: 60 cm (24 in)
REF NO : B68915

Description

A Large and Impressive Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Buffet With a Rouge Marble Top by Maison Grohé.

This exceptional buffet is made from the finest solid mahogany, it has a shaped Rouge marble top above a frieze with a single long drawer, supported by four gilt-bronze mounted monopodia legs with superb gilt-bronze Rams head capitals, laurel leaves and floral garlands. The buffet has open sides and a central shelf and is raised on a plinth base.

This important buffet is illustrated by Christopher Payne in his book ‘Paris Furniture: The Luxury Market of the 19th Century’; p. 380. Payne notes that the exceptional ram’s head mounts are a recurring feature of Grohé’s work.

Date

Circa 1860

Origin

France

Medium

Mahogany and Gilt-Bronze

Signature

Stamped twice to the top rail beneath the marble top and once to the drawer edge ‘GROHÉ / A PARIS’

Guillaume et Jean-Michel Grohé

Guillaume and Jean-Michel Grohé, worked together from 1829 until Jean-Michel retired in 1861, the younger brother Guillaume continuing until 1884. They exhibited at the French Industrial Exhibition in 1834, and in 1847 became known as Grohé Frères with Guillaume the principal partner.

Guillaume supplied many royal houses, including Queen Victoria, from 1862 onwards. He was also said to have made a great impression on, and supplied furniture to King Louis Philippe, Emperor Napoléon III and Empress Eugénie. Guillaume favoured the Louis XVI style but made pieces in differing styles, exhibiting almost continually from 1834 to 1878. Guillaume was awarded the Légion d‚’Honneur in 1849.

The work of Grohé was praised in the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle as ‚‘supérieurs √† ceux de Riesener et Gouthière‚’ (‚‘superior to those of Riesener and Gouthière‚’).

Bibliography:
Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006; pps. 97, 98, 100, 230.
Ledoux – Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 237-244.
Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’Art Français, 1850-1900, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 2010.

Literature

Payne, Christopher. Paris Furniture: The Luxury Market of the 19th Century, Editions Monelle Hayot (Saint-Remy-en-l’Eau), 2018; p. 380.

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