A Fine Louis XVI Style Centre Display Cabinet by Paul Sormani

About the Item

A Fine Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Centre Display Cabinet or ‘Vitrine de Milieu’, By Paul Sormani, Paris. The oval vitrine cabinet with four curved glass panes divided by fluted pilasters with cherub mask fruiting gilt-bronze clasps. The button-release sprung door enclosing an adjustable glass shelf. The stand fronted by a frieze drawer and set to each side with an interlaced 'L' mount. The tapering legs joined by a shelf with pierced gallery. The drawer lockplate engraved 'P. SORMANI ET FILS / 10 R. Charlot à Paris' France. Circa 1880. The four glass sides make this fine display cabinet highly versatile, meaning it can be placed centrally and viewed 'in the round' and yet is equally at home placed against a wall or in the corner of a room. The design of this display cabinet is indebted to the Louis XVI style, and King Louis XVI of France is referenced by the gilt-bronze frieze mounts of interlaced L's. Literature: This cabinet is illustrated in Christopher Payne, Paris Furniture: The Luxury Market of the 19th Century, Editions Monelle Hayot (Saint-Remy-en-l’Eau), 2018; p. 521. Paul Sormani (1817-1877) Born in Venice in 1817, Paul Sormani (1817-1877), was a Parisian maker of fine 'meubles de luxe'. His work was described in the catalogue of the 1867 Exposition Universelle as: 'toute sa production révèle une qualité d'exécution de tout premier ordre' (all of his production reveals a quality of execution all of the first order'). Sormani exhibited at the International Exhibitions in Paris in 1849, 1855, 1867, 1878 and 1900, and in London in 1862, winning numerous medals. Paul Sormani established the firm in 1847 at 7 Cimetière Saint-Nicolas in Paris, moving in 1854 to 114 rue du Temple, and in 1867 to 10 rue Charlot. After his death in 1877 Sormani's son Paul-Charles took over the business that later moved to 134 Boulevard Haussmann. It can be difficult to date Sormani's work, as the firm produced furniture for nearly ninety years. However, when Paul Sormani died in 1877, his wife and son took over the business and from this date onwards pieces are normally signed 'Veuve Sormani & Fils'. Bibliography: Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L'Ameublement d'art français : 1850-1900, Les Editions de l'Amateur, (Paris), 2010. Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions - London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors' Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006. Ledoux - Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de L'Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 583-588.

Creator:

Paul Sormani (Cabinetmaker)

Dimensions:

Height: 59.06 in (150 cm)Width: 26.78 in (68 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)

Style:

Louis XVI (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Mahogany,Ormolu

Place of Origin:

France

Period:

19th Century