19th Century Cabinet Napoleon III Period By Diehl 19 R Michel

The cabinet is Napoleon III style, also known as the Second Empire style. The main material of the cabinet is ebony with a dark varnish finish. The top of the cabinet is covered with Carrara marble, which was a popular combination of this period. The large top friezes and the small bottom friezes are carved with beautiful and delicate pearl-shaped patterns. The pearl pattern dominates in this antique French cabinet, as it also features in the framing edge of the front door panels. It seems that pearl patterns become an inexhaustible source of inspiration in this magnificent French cabinet. On either side of the front corner sections of the cabinet is a man's head gilded with fine gold, embedded in modillions, from which flowers hang. The corners of a cabinet are decorated with square rosettes topped with rococo curves and shells. The acanthus leaf motif completes the decoration of the 4 front corners of the cabinet. In the central door panel there is a medallion with a painting of two women with a goat standing near a tree surrounded by forest. The porcelain painting depicts the poetic beauty of the people and landscapes of the French countryside. The bright colors of the porcelain paint bring more life to the black-tinted cabinet. The top of the medallion is decorated with a laurel wreath with berries as well as a ribbon bow, which was also very characteristic of the Louise XVI style. The cabinet key and escutcheon are also in gilt bronze. In addition to the painting in the middle, the doorway is heavily adorned with gilt friezes and decorative angles, which feature floral designs. At the bottom center of the cabinet apron is a gilt bronze mask of a god-like person set within an acanthus rosette.