Louis XVI Collection Cabinet

Solid mahogany and veneered on softwood and alder.
Finely cast and fire-gilded bronze mouldings and fittings.

Dimensions: H x W x D: 177 x 105 x 62 cm

Description:
A chest of drawers with turned legs, three large drawers and a pull-out shelf under the top supports the recessed top of the two-part collection piece. Quartered lictor bundles wrapped in gilded bronze bands form the front corner posts of the chest of drawers.

The base of the architecturally designed top is formed by a row of three narrow drawers, the centre of which protrudes slightly. Above this, three doors between four fluted columns with Ionic capitals close the body. Above the centre door rises an arcade arch, also carved as a door, with inlaid tendrils and a halo of light-coloured wood. A ram's head made of gilded bronze emphasises the highest point of the arch. The filigree openwork wooden gallery with towers and gilded fittings forms the upper end of the piece of furniture.

Bronze mouldings cast in bronze and richly gilded in the fire emphasise the finely structured architecture of the façade. Large pull rings serve as handles for the chest of drawers.
Behind the doors of the upper section, some of the formerly probably more numerous narrow drawers have been preserved, which can be pushed into the side walls of the body at any height. By turning them, they can be used either as shelves or drawers.

Condition:
The finely crafted furniture is in a very beautiful original state of preservation. The age patina has only been lightly touched over and it is functional for everyday use.

If you require additional drawers/shelves in the storage section of the furniture, we will be happy to reproduce them based on the original models.

Provenance:
Auction house Lepke Berlin, 12 February 1929, lot 90 (see illustration)

Price: 9600,- Euro

Text and research: Michael Sulzbacher