Louis XVI Style Mahogany Side Cabinet By Henry Dasson Et Cie, French, 1889

Louis XVI Style Mahogany Side Cabinet by Henry Dasson et Cie, French, 1889 A very fine gilt bronze mounted mahogany side cabinet in the Louis XVI style with an antique French marble top, by Henry Dasson. Engraved on the gilt bronze mount: Henry Dasson et Cie 1889 This beautiful side cabinet has antique French marble on top and each side has a secret drawer which will be opened by pressing a pin underneath. The entrance doors are decorated with the fable of the fox and the stork in the Vernis Martin style. Since the painting alludes to food, it is very likely that the cupboard was made with the intention of keeping the pottery inside, the glasses on the outer shelves and the cutlery in the secret drawers. It is a piece of furniture of exquisite quality and in excellent condition. Henri Dasson Henry Dasson (1825-1896) was one of the greatest makers of gilt bronze mounted furniture in the 19th century. Unlike other cabinetmakers of that time, Dasson began his career as a bronzer, and for this reason one of the characteristics of his work is the high quality of his bronze and more precisely of the carving. With a workshop established in Paris at 106 rue Vieille-du-Temple, he mainly specializes in the production of Louis XIV, XV and XVI style furniture using the finest gilt bronze mounts. In 1871 he purchased the flourishing business and remaining stock from Charles-Guillaume Winckelsen, who had established a reputation for furniture of the highest quality. Dasson almost certainly inherited the carving craft from Winckelsen. At the Paris Expositions Universelles of 1878 and 1889, Dasson exhibited a number of pieces in the Louis XV and XVI styles, as well as pieces of his own modified 18th century design. The 1878 exhibits included a table made entirely of gilt bronze, purchased by Lord Dudley. His copy of the famous Bureau du Roi sold at the same exhibition to Lady Ashburton. Dasson ceased production in 1894, and at that time organized a sale of his models, listed in the Catalogs of drawings for art bronzes, style furniture and important decoration with reproduction rights by Henry Dasson et Cie, manufacturer of bronzes of art and cabinetmaker thereby halting production. The minutes of this sale show that Paul Sormani, as well as Joseph Emmanuel Zweiner, Maison Millet and Beurdeley acquired certain designs and models from Dasson. Jonathan Meyer illustrates a number of exceptional pieces exhibited by Dasson in 1889 in his book on the Great Exhibitions. French, around 1880.