Napoleon III decanter. Charles-Guillaume Diehl

Depository CHARLES-GUILLAUME DIEHL. Napoleon III period, late 19th century.
Wood with marquetry.
Metal fittings and applications.
With four bottles and set of 12 crystal glasses.
With signature of the company.
Measurements: 35 x 28 cm.

Portable decanter, convertible into a box, manufactured by Charles-Guillaume Diehl. The Parisian workshops of this firm gained special recognition for their exquisite manufacture of luxury boxes: decanters, cigar cabinets, game boxes, cashmere cases, jewelry boxes.... To this group belongs this attractive box-liquor box from the Napoleon III period, which combines rosewood and ebony combining light fillets and dark wood panels with metal ornaments. Likewise, the hardware is integrated into the decoration, giving it strength and beauty. The blown glass vases and bottles are decorated with acid-etched plant motifs.

Charles-Guillaume Diehl founded his cabinetmaking and decoration company at 19 rue Michel-Le-Comte in 1885. His workshops produced elegant rosewood and tuya furniture and objects with bronze and porcelain ornaments. However, it was his luxury boxes that ensured Diehl's renown. Already rewarded with a bronze medal at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, he exhibited a porcelain column planter and a liquor cabinet at the 1861 Exposition des Arts Industriels. In collaboration with the designer Jean Brandely (active from 1867 to 1873), Diehl renewed his decorative repertoire and created stunning Grecian-style furniture, which was a resounding success at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle, where his cabinets also won a silver medal. Some motifs were so typical of Diehl's work that they were extensively commented on by the art critic J. Mesnard in his book "Les Merveilles de l'Exposition Universal de 1867". He writes of a table on which "the hooked pendant and the radiant fan-shaped motif adorning the entablature are lovingly engraved" and a jewelry box on which "the fine Greek-style head forms the essential part of the fine gilt bronze ornamentation." For this Universal Exhibition, Diehl also teamed up with two famous sculptors: Emile Guillemin (1841-1907), who sculpted the relief of a mahogany sideboard with galvanic gilt bronzes, and Emmanuel Frémiet (1824-1910), who executed the bas-relief of a cedar medallion stand with marquetry and silvered bronzes. Diehl was again rewarded with a medal of honor at the Central Union Exhibition of 1869 and with a medal of advancement at the Vienna World's Fair of 1873. Heaped with critical acclaim, Diehl is considered one of the most innovative artists of the 19th century. His last appearance was at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878, where he presented his most recent creations out of competition, including a marquetry work table, which with its naturalistic grasshopper motif anticipated Art Nouveau.