Research:
Of thuya wood, ebony, boxwood, gilt bronze and Portoro marble. The original Portoro marble top rests on a gilt bronze egg and tongue molding, above a plain ebony stepped frieze. The two doors set with eighteenth century coromandel Chinese incised and polychrome panels depicting one continuous idyllic garden scene. The doors are spaced by pilaster columns with gilt bronze flutes and chandelles, resting on a finely worked gilt bronze plinth. Each door bordered in a band of thuya wood with box and ebony line fillets. Each side set with a sunken panel of finely figured thuya wood. The interior with original racking and shelves. The whole raised upon an ebony veneered plinth.
Marks:
Stamped twice: JANSEN
This impressive pair of cabinets, set with large Chinese coromandel lacquer panels to the front doors, was produced by Maison Jansen, “the most famous and influential interior-decorating firm of the 20th century.” The cabinets recall the ‘gôut grec’ of the 1760s and 1770s, a style in which simplicity of line prevailed as a reaction to the florid rococo designs of the middle of the eighteenth century. Chinese lacquer was incorporated into Jansen’s schemes in a variety of ways, including wall paneling, table-tops, screens, and paneled door fronts as found on the present cabinets.
Full research report available on request.