Live Auction 8023The Opulent Eye - 500 Years Decorative Arts Europe
A FRENCH ORMOLU AND SEVRES STYLE TURQUOISE GROUND PORCELAIN-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND AMARANTH TABLE EN CHIFFONIERE
Lot 42 Property from the Collection of Dr Mohammed Said Farsi

A FRENCH ORMOLU AND SEVRES STYLE TURQUOISE GROUND PORCELAIN-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND AMARANTH TABLE EN CHIFFONIERE

BY PAUL SORMANI, PARIS, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Closed22 September 2011

Price Realised

GBP 6,500

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A FRENCH ORMOLU AND SEVRES STYLE TURQUOISE GROUND PORCELAIN-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND AMARANTH TABLE EN CHIFFONIERE
BY PAUL SORMANI, PARIS, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
The slightly galleried oval top inset with a plaque painted to the centre with a ribbon-suspended wicker basket laden with summer flowers, the turquoise ground border with gilt roundels decorated with rose buds and blooms, above a line-inlaid quarter-veneered frieze with single drawer to the front, on shaped tapering triangular legs headed by shell and laurel clasps and joined by a galleried undertier, on paw feet, the lockplate engraved 'PAUL SORMANI/10 R. CHARLOT PARIS'
28 5/8 in. (72.7 cm.) high; 20 in. (52 cm.) wide; 14 in. (36.8 cm.) deep

Christie's, New York, 24 April 2002, lot 429 ($28,680).

Specialist note

This table en chiffonière is a fine example of Sormani's talent as imitator of the 18th century style. Porcelain-mounted furniture was popularised in the 1770s by fashion-setting marchands-merciers, such as Simon-Philippe Poirier (d. 1777) and Dominique Daguerre (d. 1796), and the finest Sèvres panels were incorporated in the work of a number of ébénistes, among the most celebrated being Roger Vandercruse, Adam Weisweiler and, in particular, Martin Carlin. In the 19th century, porcelain-mounted furniture in the 18th century manner was sought after by connoisseurs such as John Jones (d. 1882), who bequeathed his collection of French decorative arts to the South Kensington Museum. Please see lot 124 for a note on Paul Sormani.