Charles-guillaume Diehl (1811-1885) Napoleon III Desk

Elegant tiered desk from the Napoleon III period signed DIEHL - Paris 19 rue Michel Le Comte (Charles-Guillaume DIEHL 1811-1885). Structure decorated on all sides in rosewood veneer, ebony veneer in reserves presenting a marquetry of beautiful finesse of execution in exotic woods depicting motifs of Romantic attributes such as the bow, the quiver and the torch. fires decorated with olive and oak branches. It opens with a large drawer in the belt decorated with acanthus leaf scrolls, the top unfolds to reveal a writing desk covered in (used) silk lined with lemon wood veneer. The upper part has levels resting on two drawers topped with bronze columns supporting a shelf ending in a scrolled pediment enriched with a medallion with ribbon knots surrounded by gilded bronze foliage. The whole rests on four arched legs decorated with finely chiseled and gilded bronze corner falls extending into leafy sabots. Signature located and engraved on the lock (good operation with its key), note the veneer breaks on the feet. Dimensions: 1.31 m high x 70 cm wide x 45 cm deep. CHARLES GUILLAUME DIEHL (1811-1885) BORN IN STEINBACK GRAND DUCHY OF HESSE, HE SET UP IN PARIS AROUND 1840 AND FOUNDED A LARGE CABINET-MAKING FACTORY IN WHICH ALL KINDS OF BOXES (NECESSARY, LIQUEUR OR CIGAR CELLARS, COOKER BOXES GAMES...) AND SMALL FURNITURE LIKE BALL, ROSEWOOD, THUYA, FANTASY WITH BRONZE AND PORCELAIN, LIVING ROOM, WORK AND TOILET TABLES, LADY'S DESKS, NEW IN SMALL FURNITURE AND WEDDING FURNITURE, CHESTNUT POT COVERS AND MOUNTED ON FEET EXHIBITED AT THE GREAT UNIVERSAL EXHIBITIONS IN PARIS AND VIENNA IN 1867, HE SUCCESSIVELY RECEIVED A BRONZE MEDAL IN 1855, A SILVER MEDAL IN 1867 THEN A GOLD MEDAL IN 1869. CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE CABINETMAKERS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND RECOGNIZED ART OF THE 19TH CENTURY, ITS PIECES ARE HOUSED IN MUSEUMS AS PRESTIGIOUS AS THE MUSÉE D'ORSAY IN PARIS, THE RIJKSMUSEUM IN AMSTERDAM, THE MUSEUM OF THE NANCY SCHOOL AND THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM IN NEW YORK . The art critic Jules Mesnard then explains in his report of the Exhibition (Les Merveilles de l'Exposition Universelle de 1867, Paris, Volume II, pp. 129-135 "M. Diehl does not like the banal; by temperament , by taste, by reflection and by the effect of the in-depth studies he has made of all the questions relating to his art, the manufacture of luxury furniture, large and small cabinetmaking, Mr. Diehl has preferences for the new, for the original"