Antique Bonheur du Jour Cabinet

This is a French antique bonheur du jour by Jean-Baptiste Gamichon dating to c.1810. A piece for the connoisseur, rare and sought after, this exquisite cabinet is offered to the market in an original and gloriously unrestored condition. Jean-Baptiste Gamichon (1760-1835) was a French cabinet maker based in Paris, working right at the start and through the Revolution. His workshops were in rue Mauconseil and later rue de Cl̩ry, from 1790 until 1805 and Gamichon represented one of the few remaining great, French cabinet makers in a declining industry. This piece sits upon brass ball cup feet and is raised on tapering, circular section legs capped with brass rings with Satinwood highlight to the corners of the frieze. The frieze drawer opens to reveal an inset leather writing surface that further slides to reveal a divided storage area beneath. The table top is edge moulded in brass trim beneath a raked, mirrored drop flap compartment above twin drawers; the working lock securing both the compartment and drawers. Above, a pair of drawers sit beneath a mirrored cupboard closing with a brass strip dressing the join. Inside a single shelf divides the space with the rear of the doors dressed with ruched silk panels. The original mercury glass sparkles through heavy foxing in the upper mirrors (lower flap mirrors are a historic replacement) and the beaded decoration is largely complete save for the right-hand side. Brass pulls dressing the drawers.