Antique French Directoire Cherry Chiffonnière
Antique French Directoire Cherry Chiffonnière
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This is a petite French chiffonnière from the Directoire period, made in solid cherry with five graduated drawers and a grey fossil-marble top. The tall, narrow footprint was built to hold linens or small personal things in a bedroom or dressing room, and it still does that job beautifully beside a bed or in a corner that needs storage without bulk. The paneled sides and hand-cut joinery are the tell of a piece made by hand around two hundred years ago.
Solid cherry throughout, with a warm honest surface. The finish is a later one; the method is not established, and there is fine crazing across the top rail and case sides consistent with an older refinish. This is not the original surface.
The piece has old wood-worm flight holes to the back frame, top rail, case sides, and legs. It has been treated and there is no active infestation. The holes and some of the surface crazing have been filled; the filler is a pale color and has not been tinted to match the cherry, so it is visible across the case sides, rail, and legs on close inspection and in raking light. I would rather you see it in the photos than be surprised by it in person.
The chest stands level and square. A long shrinkage split runs down one side panel, with additional shrinkage checking at the top rail, both consistent with age.
The marble top is a grey and white fossil marble with characterful veining. It is chipped along the edges and the back, with a loss to one corner. The marble sits loose on the case, as these tops typically do, and I would treat it as delicate in handling and transit.
The brass escutcheons do not all match their cutouts. The lower drawer escutcheon is broken and the lock cutout beneath it is torn and enlarged; the brass is loose there. Locks are present on the other drawers; I have not tested them and no keys are included. The legs are scuffed and abraded at the feet from use.
Dating is a construction-based estimate; there is no maker's mark. Sold as-is, with photos governing.
#106
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