A Magnificent Late 19th Century Louis XVI Style Gilt Bronze Mounted Inlaid Marquetry ‘Table Des Muses’ By Beurdeley

$65,000

Emmanuel-Alfred Beurdeley

Also widely known as the “Arts and Science” table, the Amaranth, Bois Satiné and Sycamore inlaid marquetry rectangular top depicts an allegory of Astronomy and Geometry, personified by the Muses Urania and Calliope holding a telescope and a pair of compasses and centered by an armillary sphere, the sides and back each centered by a rectangular panel inlaid with putti emblematic of the Arts and Sciences, with two secret spring loaded buttons revealing deep side drawers, each corner with an acanthus mount issuing scrolled acanthus and foliage, standing on tapering legs terminating in foliate-cast sabots.

Stamped BY on the underneath of the carcass.

After the famous 18th Century model by Jean-Henri Riesener, which was originally supplied to King Louis XVI and now in the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

Beurdeley, Louis-Auguste and Emmanuel-Alfred (1808-1882 and 1847-1919). The firm exhibited and won awards at all of the major international exhibitions during the second half of the nineteenth century. The quality and skill employed in production was of exceptional quality; their ormolu mounts with mercurial gilding and hand chasing were often difficult to distinguish from late eighteenth-century examples, and were considered the finest in Paris. The firm was pioneered by Jean Beurdeley (1772-1853), later managed by his son Louis-Auguste-Alfred, and finally imparted to his son Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis in 1875. The firm was established at 32 and 34, rue Louis-Le-Grand, and also owned the pavillion de Hanovre, where it  was based while Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis added two additional workshops at 20 and 24, rue Dautancourt by 1875. The Beurdeley workshops closed in 1896, although still partially active until 1898 and the stock was sold over a number of auctions conducted by the Galerie Georges Petit of Paris. Two auction catalogues of the collection were published in 1895 and sales were held between March 6-8 and May 27-28.

Among Beurdeley’s most prestigious clients were Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, the duc D’aumale, Richard Wallace, the Duc and Princess d’Hamilton, Tsarine Alexandra Féodorovna, The Rothschild and Vanderbilt dynasties and the Metropolitan Club, New York.

Details:
Height – 30 inches / 76cm
Width – 42.5 inches / 108cm
Depth – 24 inches / 61cm