Objets d'Art

French Document Case

Period

ca. 1775

Material

oak frame veneered with boxwood, rosewood, satinwood, amaranth, bois tenté and ribbons of sycamore

Sizes

(height) 16cm. (width) 23cm. (Length) 33cm.

Description

A wooden case with rounded corners veneered with amaranth. The lid has a similar finishing. The inlayed panels on the four sides are framed with sycamore and filled with ribbons of amaranth and boxwood edging. On the lid the framing has motives of laurel and berries, with rosettes in the corners.
The various inlayed pictures show views of villages with houses, trees and rivers in a hilly country.

André Louis Gilbert (1746-1809), to whom this case is attributed, was appointed maître ébéniste on july 20. 1774 and worked at the Rue Traversière until 1785. After that time he moved to the Faubourg st. Antoine. He worked together with his colleague and trader Léonard Boudin.
Gilbert’s work is characterised by a slightly naïve but very decorative and charming marquetry of landscapes and village views.

Literature:
Pierre Kjelberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, 1998, pp. 356-359.