”SECRETER “Á ABATTANT”. GILT BRONCE, MARQUETRY, PORCELAIN, CLOTH, MARBLE. SIGNED HYPPOLYTE-EDME PRETOT (ParIs, France, 1812-1855).
Antiques - Furniture
Reference: Z6849
Drop-leaf secretary desk. Fine woods, marquetry, interior with drawers in rosewood and textile, gilt bronze and enameled porcelain; marble top. Signed HYPPOLYTE-EDME PRETOT (Paris, 1812-1855). 19th century. A secretary desk with a light veined marble top and a rectangular base, featuring curved edges and rounded corners highlighted with diamond marquetry and gilt metal appliqués reminiscent of classical architecture. The sides display a diamond-patterned featherwork decoration in the central wood section, separated by two gilt bronze moldings that extend along the three fronts; the same compositional scheme is repeated on the top. The front panel is the focal point of the decoration: a composition framed by featherwork of flowers and vegetal elements in delicate marquetry for each drawer, which, on the small door, is highlighted by a bronze molding and accompanied by an enameled porcelain plaque. This plaque depicts two cupids against a celestial background, framed in the same metal. Opening this small door reveals a small writing desk with a fabric-covered top and four drawers flanking a central compartment, positioned beneath another rectangular space. The corners of the furniture also feature classicist dolphins and grotesque figures of children with the lower half of their bodies transformed into plant elements and volutes. The piece of furniture bears a signature linked to Hippolyte-Edme Pretot, a Parisian cabinetmaker who established himself on Rue de l'Abbaye in 1836, moved to Rue Saint-Germain in 1841, and, from 1846, to Rue de Harlay. He displayed some of his finest work at the French National Exhibition of 1849 and won a medal at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. This example can be compared to the lines of a Napoleon III cabinet in pietra dura, ebonized wood, and gilt bronze, dated to around 1850 and held in a private collection. Similarities can also be seen by comparing the bronze elements of both pieces. Some works by the master, or attributed to him, can be viewed at the Dayton Art Institute (United States), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Embassy of Luxembourg in The Hague, the Spanish National Heritage collection, and elsewhere.
· Size: 80x44x109 cms.
6.400 €
Special Offer, disc. -20%, before 8.000 €!
