French 19th Century Gilt Bronze And Pietre Dure Mounted Box Attributed To Tahan

Each side inlaid with fine hardstone panels of flowers, the hinged top opening to reveal a buttoned down blue silk lined interior, on scroll and ballfeet

Size: 32cm wide, 15.5cm deep, 12.5cm high

Jean-Pierre-Alexandre Tahan, born in 1813, took over in 1845 the business of "boxes andnécessaires kits" created by his father and developed it through the production of small precious pieces of furniture. The following year, he was appointed "Supplier of the King and Princes", then in 1855, "Supplier of the Emperor". From that date, the Court placed him a large number of orders such as bookcases, tables, pedestal tables and necessary. He was also present at exhibitions from 1849 to 1867 and obtained a gold medal at the latter.
This box is decorated with Florentine hard stone marquetry plaques a speciality since 1588 when the Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Medici created the Opificio delle Pietre dure in Florence, originally intended to decorate the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The talent of the Florentine lapidaries in mastering the "commesso" shone throughout Europe, so much so that, from 1662, the Manufacture des Gobelins had a workshop specialising in hard stones in order to compete with them.