a rare gilt-bronze mounted kingwood meuble de milieu by Joseph-emmanuel Zwiener paris, circa 1880

with an inset rouge de Maine molded marble top above a female mask flanked by two drawers above two cupboard doors opening to four shelves, the female mask has been removed to reveal the mark ZN from the bronze master model.

The bronze mounts of the present cabinet derive from 18th century prototypes by the great French marchend-ébéniste and sculpteur Charles Cressent (1685-1768), ébéniste of the regent of France, philippe d' Orleans.

Joseph emmanuel Zwiener (b. 1849), established his workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, becoming one of the premiere haut luxe cabinetmakers of the late 19th century. The exceptional quality of Zwiener’s craftsmanship and extensive usage of fine gilt-bronze invites comparisons to the work of famed ébéniste, François Linke (1855-1946). Working in several styles fashionable in Paris at the time, Zwiener copied mainly Louis XV pieces from public collections, adapting them in his own exuberant interpretation of Rococo. At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, he received the gold medal and a note of high praise from the jurists: ‘dès ses débuts d'une Exposition universelle, [il] s'est mis au premier rang par la richesse, la hardiesse et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronzes et fort habilement marquetés.’ In 1895, Zwiener was summoned to Berlin at the request of German Emperor Wilhelm II (1859-1941) at Schloss Neues Palais, Sans Souci, Potsdam. Zwiener was recorded as an exhibitor for the German Pavillion at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.