Tahan (attributed To) - Rosewood And Porcelain Plaque Liqueur Box, Circa 1860

TAHAN (Attributed to the Parisian Maison de Tableterie fine et Ebénisterie d'Art, 1806-1882) - Lovely Cellar - or Chest - for Liqueurs covered on its polylobed form with a veneer of Rosewood curls. This one is embellished with a set of gilded bronzes in Louis XV finery decorated with country flowers and gracefully chiseled berries. Set with "Rocaille" cartouches, two finely painted Sèvres porcelain medallions depicting, fluttering in the midst of clouds, Cherubs bearing olfactory and gustatory pleasures, adorn its lid and its facade. Open, it unmasks, dressed in Loupe, a box furnished with a Baccarat crystal liqueur service composed of four Carafes and eight small matching stemmed glasses. Titled, small enameled labels decorated with polychrome floral motifs mention the fine fruit and plant liqueurs contained in each of the bottles. Functional key and lock. Quality work from the Napoleon III period, circa 1860. A small jewel of Parisian Second Empire tablet making: With enchanting femininity, this ravishing Cellar-or Box - for Liqueurs of small proportions is covered especially the faces of its polylobed case with a precious marquetry of rosewood curls. Weighted, a pretty set of beautifully crafted gilt bronzes in Louis XV finery (shells with wavy edges, shell-palmettes, volutes, crossettes and acanthus leafy scrolls) brightened with piquant motifs (flowers, flower garlands, berries in clusters) evocative of the destination of this graceful "hand furniture" festoons its scalloped profile, sets its cartouches and keyhole, punctuates its side handles, fits its base. Pearls, ribbon braid add brilliance and refinement to the whole. Set in "Rocaille" cartouches, two charming polychrome porcelain medallions on "Celestial Blue" field set with palms, flowered stems and gold varnished flowers exquisitely adorn the upper plate, the front of the Box. Treated in soft tones, these cheerful tableaux of adorable fantasy depict, twirling in the midst of powdery clouds, cute Cherubs. With affable diligence, one in the guise of a little boy carries, smiling, a rustic wicker basket filled with spring flowers. At once cuddly and flirtatious, a little blonde girl holds in her plump arms a Box with a label singularly titled "Tea" - an amusing invitation to substitute this traditional and wise drink with more titillating beverages that appeared during the second half of the 19th century. Forming a counterpart, these tender and ingenuous childlike figures maliciously decline the function and designs of this Tabletterie object, highly prized in its time. With the key turned, the flap raised, the side walls half-open, the Box like a Pandora's Box reveals an interior dappled with a shimmering veneer of speckled Elm Burl. Housed in a box trimmed on its undulating profile with a gilded bronze bead, the alveoli accommodate an intimate Baccarat Cut Crystal Liqueur Service composed of four quadrangular section carafes with faceted stoppers to which eight small baluster-shaped glasses are matched. Held by chains, small enamelled labels decorated with stylised flowers reveal the contents of these inviting receptacles bearing sweet olfactory and gustatory pleasures: "BENEDICTINE", "CASSIS" (cream of), "CHARTREUSE", "COGNAC", - fruit and plant liqueurs particularly appreciated by the feminine gender of the Crinoline Age. Softness of lines, shimmer of precious woods, coquettishness of ornamental bronzes, playful charm of the very fresh porcelain decoration literally transform into a little "Jewel" this Liqueur Box of very feminine refinement. As such, it proves to be characteristic of the luxurious "Hand-made furniture of the most delicate taste and workmanship" created for the "fashionable" clientele of the Second Empire by distinguished representatives of the "Fine Tabletterie and small artistic cabinetmaking" of Paris (Audot-Vervelle, Ch. G. Dielh, A.Giroux, P.Sormani, ..) of which Jean-Pierre-Alexandre Tahan (1813-1892) was the prodigious protagonist. Although not stamped, our Cellar or Liqueur Box, both by the undeniable quality of its work and by its model with reinvented Louis XV forms, is fully affiliated with its production, of which it bears the distinctive stamp of graceful elegance. Placed under the ribald auspices of playful fluttering Putti within clouds strewn with roses (attribute of Venus) musetes of spiritual joys, it summons, with the fine liqueurs contained in its bottles, an imaginary world that unites pleasures with olfactory and gustatory pleasures. High quality work of Louis XV finery representative of Parisian Luxury Tableware Attributable to the prestigious Maison de Tableware and Artistic Cabinetmaking of Pierre-Alexandre TAHAN active in Paris from 1806.