Lot 167
A NAPOLEON III EBONISED, BRASS, AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAID MARBLE TOPPED MEUBLE D'APPUI, BY CHARLES-GUILLAUME DIEHL
19TH CENTURY
The Line of Beauty: A Collector’s Pursuit
Auction: 01 July 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
the serpentine Rosso Levanto marble top over a serpentine frieze and pair of doors and side panels covered with mother-of-pearl and brass diaper pattern inlay, the doors with large gilt masks mounts flanked by figural mounts to the angles, above a shaped apron with central gilt bronze mount and bracket feet, stamped ‘DIEHL’ to door
Dimensions
132cm wide, 108cm high, 46cm deep
Footnote
Born in Steinbach, Hesse, on 20 July 1811, Charles-Guillaume Diehl moved to Paris in 1840 and established his cabinetmaking business there by 1850. Working from rue Michel-le-Comte and later rue Saint-Sébastien, he employed around 600 workers by 1870. Diehl became renowned for luxury furniture and decorative objects, particularly marquetry pieces inspired by the Boulle style. His work attracted an international clientele and earned a silver medal at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle.