Black-Veneered Cabinet with Pietra Dura, Béfort Jeune, 19th Century

This side cabinet is finished in black veneer, with bronze mounts and a Belgian black marble top. Made in France between 1844 and 1880, this Parisian example bears the mark of the cabinetmaker Mathieu Béfort, known as Béfort Jeune. Its single door incorporates marble inlay executed in pietra dura. The bronze decoration comprises a frieze of stylised flowers and bunches of grapes, an acanthus-leaf frieze, and foliage terminating in female busts flanking the door. The sides feature male masks surmounted by foliage, and the cabinet stands on a shaped plinth. The piece measures 133 cm in height, 104 cm in width and 47 cm in depth. The son of the cabinetmaker Jean-Baptiste Béfort, Mathieu Béfort worked on rue Neuve Saint-Gilles in Paris.