Tortoiseshell Box. Tahan House, 19th Century Maison Tahan, 19th Century
Its brass motifs on a background of scales certainly designate a box made of « première partie », first part. This technique, also known as Boulle marquetry, regularly went in pairs since the brass plate cut to extract the patterns and the shapes of the patterns cut in the tortoiseshell plate were used mirrored on another object of similar proportions. Thus, the « contre-partie » counterpart drew patterns of scales on a brass background.
This very beautiful box is signed Tahan, a quality house whose « tabletier » (a fine cabinet maker for small objects) Jean Pierre Alexandre Tahan (1813-1892) – “the prince of small cabinetmaking” as one likes to call him – supplied Napoleon III and the imperial entourage throughout the Second Empire.
Winning all sorts of prestigious medals for the incomparable quality of his work, he was also the object of glowing compliments in the specialized press and in 1861 Tahan was readily considered “one of those manufacturers who are ahead of fashion and set the tone instead of suffer” by La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité.
In perfect condition, this little box testifies to the undeniable talent of this master craftsman who collaborated with the greatest and reached, under the Second Empire, the apogee of refinement.
- Delivery price in France : 15€.
Delivery price in Europe : 35€.
Delivery price for other destinations: 55€.
