Perfume Case – Paris, Circa 1730.

Rare perfume box, Parisian work, circa 1730. Cabinetmaking – veneer & inlay: The box is entirely veneered on oak with Rio rosewood (Dalbergia nigra), a precious wood imported from Brazil and highly prized in Paris during the 1720s-1740s. This Rio rosewood is used here on the lid in a geometric diamond-point inlay: a motif very characteristic of the high Parisian cabinetmaking of the Regency/early Louis XV period. This exact type of construction with lozenges and perpendicular fillets is found in the work of Étienne Doirat, Antoine Criaerd, and Pierre Migeon. This same vocabulary is also documented in the work of Antoine-Robert Gaudreaus (cabinetmaker to King Louis XV) – see his Rio rosewood commodes published by Alcouffe/Grall/Perfertini, Faton edition. The veneer technique on this Rio rosewood box, with its perpendicular grain and diamond point pattern, places the object squarely within the tradition of leading Parisian workshops around 1730. Original fittings: iron top handle, lock, keyhole escutcheon, stop compass, hinges, and back mirror. The antique key is preserved and still operates the lock. Inside, all the bottles are present. The small measuring cup and funnel are silver. The set is homogeneous: coherent and from the same period. The box has been restored (18th-19th century). The interior lining is old but later than the box: probably a second-century re-lining around 1770 in an "Indian" style. An old crack on the lid remains visible. Dimensions: 23 cm x 20 cm x 17 cm. A very fine collector's item, representative of French perfumery at the cusp of the fragrant 17th and the refined 18th centuries, a time when Paris was becoming the capital of taste and fragrance.