ref. 1402/17

G. Durand

Cabinet-maker
(1839-1920)
(attributed to)

Elegant table

France
Circa 1880

Height : 70 cm (27,5 in.) ; Width : 76 cm (30 in.) ; Depth : 47 cm (18,5 in.)

A very fine Louis XV style rectangular table, made in Satinwood, Tulipwood and Kingwood. Raised on four cabriole legs, each surmounted by a gilt-bronze mount and ending on cast feet. Surmounted by a serpentine-shaped top inlaid with an elegant stylized flower and palmet motif marquetry. The frieze, containing a long drawer, allover decorated with a fine « end-cut » floral parquetry, characteristic of Durand’s work (in D. Ledoux-Lebard. Les ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Paris, 1984, p°183).

Biography

Gervais Durand (1839-1920) participated in the 1889 Universal Exhibition where he was awarded a silver medal. A. Picard’s exhibition report stated that, « Mr Durand, cabinet-maker, as skillful as modest, displays for the first time very fine furniture, which has been designed and made by him. He is walking in the footsteps of giants such as Beurdeley and Dasson ». Durand made almost exclusively reproductions of 18th Century masterpieces, among which, those made by the most famous Parisian cabinet-maker, supplier of the Royal family : B.V.R.B. His works reveal in all points the great harmony between the forms, marquetry decoration and bronzes.

Related work

Tables made around 1745 after similar models by B.V.R.B. known and exhibited : Louvre Museum, Decorative Arts Museum (Paris) ; Victoria & Albert Museum (London) ; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).