Louis XVI Style Sideboard/serving Buffet, Signed Mercier Frères Paris

Large corner buffet or English-style buffet, forming a sideboard, in mahogany, mahogany veneer, ebony veneer and gilt bronze. Rectangular in shape with double projections, it opens with two hinged doors in flame mahogany within double ebony frames and by 4 drawers in the frieze. White marble top with projections and openwork gilt bronze gallery. The rounded corners are composed of 2 shelves also with white marble bottoms. Rests on fluted spindle legs ending in gilt bronze sabots. Interior in light oak. Superb condition with its two original bronze keys. Signed on a plaque in a drawer. Dismountable furniture. Mercier Frères Décoration is a former decorating, upholstery and furniture manufacturing company, located at 100, Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in Paris. Founded in 1828 by Claude Mercier, it closed in 1985. Specializing in period furniture, it supplied numerous European and Eastern courts, particularly the Iranian imperial family. It participated in the 1867 Universal Exposition, and then, with a small pavilion, in the 1900 Exposition. It published a map of the exposition's attractions. In 1914, it opened a branch in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in 1920 a store, the Palais de Marbre, at 77 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. In 1927, it opened a branch in New York City, at 232-236 E. 59th Street.