Showcase In Boulle Marquetry Signed On The Blaise Millet Bronzes From The Napoleon III Period

4-door violin display case in Boulle marquetry It is made up of two central glass doors. The sides are curved and glazed. The windows are original. The lock is original. The interior is lined with red velvet. Blackened wood top. The bronzes are original and many of its bronzes are marked MB, the mark of the Founder Blaise Millet, creator of the famous furniture house in Paris.MAISON MILLET Founded by Blaise Millet, “bronze fitter”, the Millet house appeared in the Almanac in 1857. Between 1889 and 1897, it was located at 50 rue Saint-Sabin, before occupying the Mansart de Sagonne hotel at 23 boulevard Beaumarchais. Blaise's son, Théodore, helped give it real growth from the 1890s. Maison Millet definitively ceased its activity in 1918. Initially specializing in artistic bronzes and lighting, Maison Millet then expanded its activity. decoration and furnishing, occasionally collaborating with other craftsmen such as, for example, the sculptor and bronze worker Claude Marioton. The Millet father & sons also diversified their repertoire of decorative bronzes, acquiring models from other bronze makers, notably during the Henry Dasson sale in 1894 or Beurdeley in 1897-1898 (C. Mestdagh, op. cit., p . 57). Finally, they requested access to 18th century furniture kept in public collections, in order to enrich their knowledge and know-how: in 1902, Théodore Millet obtained authorization from Versailles to copy the jewelry case made by Schwerdfeger for Marie Antoinette. Presented as a factory of “bronzes and artistic luxury furniture in ancient styles”, the Millet house participated for the first time in a universal exhibition in Paris in 1889. It received the gold medal. Followed by the one held in Chicago in 1893 where Millet exhibited alongside the Beurdeleys, and that in Saint-Louis in 1904. The success of the house was such that it was represented in New York by Duryea and Potter, 469 Fifth Avenue (C Mestdagh, op. cit., p. 135). Camille Mestdagh,