French 19th Century Napoleon III Period Cabinet

Napoleon III ormolu veneered ebony cabinet in Second Empire style by . In the 19th century, the Empire style prevailed in the years 1800 to 1815 and was the second phaze of Neoclassicism. Many textures on the cabinet feature also the symmetry of Neoclassicism. This style embodies the Greco-Roman classical art, focus on simplicity and balance as well as Napoleon III’s eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts.
The top of the cabinet is made with Carrara marble. The cabinet is veneered in French-polish on the outside, which is black, ornamented with gilded mounts, friezes and parquetry. A very prominent motif that reign over this cabinet are acanthus leaves with anthemia motifs. The edges, front panels of the doors and 2 front legs are all embelished with ormolu acanthus motifs. The front side corners of the cabinet contain a bust sculpture of a woman built in to the pillar – a Caryatid, which represent either priestesses of Artemis in Caryae or the women of Caryae, who were doomed to hard labour because the town sided with the Persians in Greco-Persian war.
The 2 door cabinet both contain cartouche styled escutcheons where the key goes, the framing edges and embelllishments are carved with gilt bronze, where as front panels are decorated with polychrome floral design. The flower vases visible on the front are made with Pietra dura technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. The stones used in this piece are such as marble, enamel, green onyx along with semiprecious stones. The image features, cherries, mirabelle plums and flowers, which embellishes the cabinet with vivid and unique colors. At the base are 4 oval legs and in the space between front legs, where apron resides is a ormolu mounth made with acanthus leaves and anthemia motif.