Carved Oak Cabinet, Sixteenth Century, Bertaut Collection, Paris, 1851

This is an original antique chromolithograph, printed in tan, ocher and brown, lettered "MEUBLE en chêne sculpté (XVIe Siècle.) Collection de Mme Bertaut, à Paris". The piece is shown in three-quarter view: a canted, two-stage cabinet on a stepped polygonal plinth. The enclosed upper stage carries relief panels, one with a crowned shield bearing a double-headed eagle between two rearing beasts, another with putti around a vase. A frieze below shows a portrait medallion held by winged figures and panels of grotesques, the corners are set with carved columns and small figures, and the open lower stage is backed by panels of scrolling grotesque ornament.

The caption translates as "piece of furniture in carved oak (sixteenth century), collection of Mme Bertaut in Paris." The running head reads "AMEUBLEMENT CIVIL, Pl. XV." The credits read "Rivaud del.", "Chromolith. Lemercier" and "Kellerhoven lith.", with "F. Séré direxit" beneath the caption.

Le Moyen Âge et la Renaissance was published in Paris in five volumes between 1848 and 1851. Paul Lacroix, who also wrote as the Bibliophile Jacob, edited the text, and Ferdinand Séré directed the illustrations, which is why his name and the word direxit stand beneath every plate. The work surveys the manners, crafts, sciences and arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe, and its chromolithographed plates record objects held around 1850 in churches, museums and private collections. This plate is from the fourth volume, dated 1851, and is plate fifteen of the section on domestic furniture.

The sculptural three-quarter view gives the plate depth, and it hangs well beside other Renaissance furniture subjects.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.