IN THE MANNER OF ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE, BY EMMANUEL ZWIENER, PARIS, CIRCA 1890

With bravado typical of the great fin de siècle ébénistes, the design of this lavish centre table takes inspiration from one of the most celebrated designs in furniture history - the commodes made by André-Charles Boulle and supplied in 1708 for the chambre du roi of Louis XIV at the Palais de Trianon, Versailles. Borrowed directly from this illustrious antecedent are the winged sphinx mask mounts heading the legs, and their replication was made possible by the 4th Marquess of Hertford who commissioned the cabinetmaker Blake of London to make a replica of one of the Trinon commodes which had entered the collection of the Duke of Hamilton. The master models for the commode passed from Blake and subsequent replicas are known to have been made by the Parisian ébénistes Fourdinois, Winckelsen, Dasson, Linke and Zwiener. Here Emmanuel Zwiener successfully adapts the design as a centre table of which only one other version is known – a table with pietre dure top and ‘Boulle’ marquetry veneers sold Christie’s, London, 17 June 2009, lot 111 (£145,250).