Paul Sormani

PAUL SORMANI (Italy, 1817 - France, 1877).
Cabinet, second half of the nineteenth century.
Mahogany wood and gilded bronze.
With plate "P. Sormani', 10 rue Charlot à Paris".
Measurements: 162 x 104,5 x 39 cm.

"Toute sa production revele une qualite d'execution de tout premier ordre". With this revealing and categorical phrase, the critics of the Universal Exhibition of 1867 referred to the work of Paul Sormani, an outstanding cabinetmaker who acquired great popularity among the Parisian high society and the imperial family itself in the second half of the 19th century. His exquisite and careful language led him to create luxury pieces such as the one we are now bidding for, an exceptional Louis XVI style cabinet veneered in mahogany wood embellished with fine gilded bronze mounts. Structured architecturally, the cabniet stands on four toupie feet supporting the main body divided into two levels. The lower part has two doors framed by fluted pilasters, while the upper part is decorated with garlands, ribbons and rosettes in the Louis XVI style. Floral friezes of great distinction frame the upper body horizontally, both at the top and bottom. A concave frieze with its sides trimmed and crowned by a baluster tops the piece of furniture at the top.

Paul Sormani was a prominent cabinetmaker of Lombard-Venetian origin who settled in Paris in 1847. He initially specialized in the manufacture of travel cases and small-format furniture. His first store was located at 7 Cimitère Saint Nicolas, in 1854 he moved to 114 Rue du Temple and finally, in 1867, to 10 Rue Charlot. His prestige was consolidated in 1849, when he won a bronze medal at the Exposition of the Second Republic, in Paris, and in fact the Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, decorated her palaces with many of his furniture. Sormani participated in the great international exhibitions of 1855, 1862 and 1867 with his "petits meubles fantaisie" ("little fanciful furniture") and several reproductions of excellent quality of the pieces preserved in the National Furniture Store. At the 1855 Universal Exposition in Paris he won a silver medal, and at the 1862 Exposition in London he repeated his success, this time with a bronze medal. At the Paris Exhibition of 1867 he won a silver medal, and his work was described in these terms: "his entire production reveals a quality of execution of the first order". Sormani rose to fame thanks to the patronage of the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon III.upon the death of Paul Sormani, his sons and mother will continue with the firm, which will be renamed "Sormani Veuve Paul et Fils" from 1878. That same year, the house won a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, followed by a diploma of honor at the Colonial Exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883 and the Grand Prix at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. In 1914, Paul-Charles Sormani joined forces with the Thiebault brothers, giving rise to a new firm, the Maison Thiebault-Sormani, which would participate in the famous 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Decorative Arts, the official starting point of Art Deco. This house will focus on the production of high quality pieces in the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles, and will remain in business until 1934, when it closes. Today, Sormani furniture is kept in various French palaces, as well as in the National Palace of Ajuda, in Lisbon.