Small Baroque-style Mahogany Book Case Cabinet with a framed glass door and a collection of eight volumes of ornamental French cartonnage bindings from the 1840s
Cartonnage
Paris
Paris: Lehuby. Cartonnage. Near Fine. The bookcase cabinet is elegant and striking, with its ornate carved wood floral ornamented pediment and floral and foliate border framing the glass door. This small piece of furniture stands 33 cm to the top of the pediment, and if we measure to the top of the "box" or case itself, 26.5 cm, and the case is 11 cm deep. The glass door can be secured with the original metal key. The legs holding up the case about 4 cm from the ground are black metal and have typical Baroque detailing. The titles are almost beside the point, but they are all titles intended for a young adult readership. All the volumes have elaborate Renaissance Revival or Rococo frilled gilt decoration on their boards, front and back, and spines. We can not say that the case/cabinet was made for these particular volumes, but it most definitely well-suits them and the volumes fit perfectly within. All the bindings were published by Lehuby of Paris and they generally have steel engraved plates. They are 16mo and 14.5 by 9 cm each. (Inventory #: 005162)