ENTOURAGE DE JEAN MACÉ

Lot 23
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Estimation :
20000 - 30000 EUR
ENTOURAGE DE JEAN MACÉ
Cabinet in carved and engraved ebony veneer, surmounted by a cornice opening with two drawers, opening by two leaves decorated with biblical scenes depicting the judgment of Solomon, a scene surrounded by flowers and foliage scrolls, spandrels with medallion motifs, the leaves uncovering seventeen drawers around two small leaves with landscape decoration containing a porticoed theatre with allegorical decorations in a trompe-l'oeil temple arch inlaid with fruit wood, rosewood, stained bone. In the centre a landscape painted in the background, the sides with a checkerboard pattern, the base opening with two drawers in a belt, supported by twelve Ionic columns joined by a plinth base finished with flattened ball feet. Louis XIII period H. 183 cm ; W. 127 cm ; D. 48,5 cm Traces of worms, restorations PROVENANCE Private collection, Paris The cabinet makes its appearance during the Renaissance. If the vocation of storage is undeniable, its main purpose is to show the social status of its owner. Real pieces of bravery, cabinetmakers invented new codes and adapted to the arrival of exotic materials from Africa and the New World. As early as the 12th century, ebony was imported into the West via trade routes, thanks to sub-Saharan caravanners. Sculpted into pommels or statuettes, they garnish royal treasures or rich abbeys and basilicas, such as Saint Denis. With the intensification of trade due to the slave trade, a large quantity of ebony arrived in Europe through the major northern ports of Antwerp and Amsterdam. Above all, in the United Provinces, a process of cutting the ebony into thin strips was born, making it possible to veneer it on less precious species. Its natural qualities: its very dark colour and its solidity make it a highly sought-after material that overturned the decorative arts at the beginning of the 17th century. Jean Macé was undoubtedly one of the most renowned cabinetmakers of this taste. A cabinet ma
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