Primary Description:
Cabinet with Reverse-Decorated Glass Panels. (a) Oak, amaranth (purple heart), ebony, reverse-decorated glass (verre eglomise), gilded bronze, gilded silver. The rectangular cabinet is veneered in ebony and contains twelve drawers fitted as pairs over six tiers. Each drawer is made of amaranth and set with two panels of reverse-gilded and painted glass contained within ebonized frames and with a silver-gilt ring-handle at the front. The glass is painted with scrolling foliate designs and fanciful birds in shades of green, red and black against a gilded background. The pairs of drawers on the uppermost and lowermost tiers extend the full width of the cabinet. The pairs of drawers in the central three tiers are separated by a finely-carved central door of architectural design comprising two columns supporting a baroque pediment, and embellished with gilt-bronze and silver. The center of the door is fitted with a vertical panel of reverse painted glass decorated with an urn filled with stylized flowers and set within an arched frame. The central door, with a mirror on the inside, opens to reveal a compartment, finely veneered with a geometric deign and two further ebony-veneered drawers. (b) Metal key (opens the central door).