Mathieu Befort Jeune (b. France 1813, d. 1880)
A signed French Regence style meuble d'appui after a model by Charles André Boulle, gilt bronze mounted, tortoiseshell, ebonised and brass inlaid sides and front, black marble top, the door mounted with Socrates listening to a philosophy lesson given by courtesan Aspasia, enclosing an oak interior, the sides centred by Hercules masks. Signed six times BEFORT JEUNE. Paris, C. 1860. H. 119 cm. W. 97 cm. D. 45 cm.
The Parisian cabinet maker Mathieu Béfort was son of Jean-Baptiste Béfort (d. 1840), was working in their workshop rue Neuve-Saint-Gilles between 1844 and 1880. The high quality of his work allowed him to become a purveyor to Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. He was very successful in creating top quality pieces in the manner of Charles André Boulle and won a medal at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de 'industrie Francaise.
This meuble d'appui is based on the model by André-Charles Boulle, ébéniste, ciseleur, doreur et sculpteur du Roi from 1672 to 1732 (see Alexandre Pradère, French Furniture Makers, The Art of the Ebéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, Paris, 1989, p. 81).
Condition report on request.
Kierkegaard & antiques, 18 September 2013