A NAPOLEON III ORMOLU-MOUNTED CUT-BRASS INLAID TORTOISESHELL `BOULLE' MARQUETRY EBONY SIDE CABINET

Another cabinet of this model also signed by Befort Jeune sold Christie’s, London, 6 March 2014, lot 138 (£98,500). Mathieu Befort, dit Befort Jeune (d. 1880), was the son of Jean-Baptiste Befort (d. 1840), who established his Paris workshops in 1817 in the faubourg Saint-Honoré. He was a brother of Bernard Befort, ébéniste-marqueteur and antiquaire and like him specialised in meubles de Boulle. The firm received a medal at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie française. Befort Jeune was recorded at Neuves-Saint-Gilles from 1844 until 1880.