Louis XV Style Living Room Table In Violet Wood, Apocryphal Stamps “fd” And “jme”

Louis XV style living room table in violet wood, apocryphal stamps “FD” and “JME” France, historicist work – late 19th / early 20th century Dimensions: H. 76 × W. 90 × D. 58 cm Lovely living room table known as a “lady’s desk” in Louis XV style, opening at the waist with three drawers and a pull covered in gilded leather. The top has a superb 4-leaf frieze, made of violet wood veneer with spectacular grain, highlighted by a baguette forming a slight edge on three sides, in the tradition of small desks from the mid-18th century. The arched base, curved on all four sides, is decorated with gilded bronze falls, sabots and keyholes, in a very controlled rocaille spirit. This piece of furniture bears two apocryphal stamps: – FD, attributed to François Faizelot Delorme, Parisian cabinetmaker received master in 1748; – JME, hallmark of the jurande of Parisian cabinetmakers. These marks were affixed a posteriori, for the purpose of illusory authentication: the analysis of the assemblies, the internal structures (notably visible under the table) and the finishes reveals a historicist manufacture, most likely carried out between 1880 and 1920, with old woods. The previous owner considered this piece to be a piece of furniture authentically Louis XV, having acquired it in the auction room as such (see lot 245 on Drouot). This erroneous attribution is indicative of the high quality of execution of the piece of furniture, and the care taken in the restoration of the details of the 18th century. A charming, decorative and refined piece, but also an interesting testimony to the practices of reconstruction and historical forgeries which marked the antique taste of the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century, in the line of the first productions of André Mailfert.