Attributed to Charles-Guilluame Winckelsen French, 1812-1871 A fine Napoléon III gilt bronze mounted engraved brass, pewter and tortoiseshell inlaid Boulle style marquetry side cabinet Paris, circa 1860, after the model by André-Charles Boulle

engraved brass, pewter, red and brown tortoiseshell première and contrepartie marquetry, surmounted by a levanto vert et rouge marble top, the central panelled door opening to four drawers, below a bronze medallion of Louis XIV with the motto LUDOVICUS MAGNUS REX, the sides each fitted with four drawers, the drawer locks stamped SOUCHET/PARIS

Alcouffe et al., Furniture Collections in the Louvre, vol. 1, Dijon, 1993, pp. 64-69, cat. 18.

D. Dubon and T. Dell, The Frick Collection An Illustrated Catalogue, Vol. V, New York, 1992, pp. 254, 257

P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, vol. II, London, 1996, pp. 585-594., no. 127 (F 391-2).

In interesting untouched condition. Very good quality. Marble top good and with some surface scratches and old marks. Mounts tarnished but super quality. Pewter and brass inlay tarnished and with lifting. Some of this inlay is missing. There are color variations to this inlay. Although key pieces intact (although large scroll lacking from door. The tortoiseshell ground with some cracking and lifting and some losses. One drawer lacking lock. Steel lock to central cupboard appears later. After sympathetic restoration this will be spectacular.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This meuble d'appui belongs to a group of important 19th century cabinets derived from celebrated models attributed to André-Charles Boulle circa 1685, today in the collections of the Louvre (OA 5453-4), and seen in a workshop preparatory drawing for a cabinet on stand now in the in the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris (723 C 2). 
Boulle’s enduring popularity and influence is evidenced in a number of exceptional 19^th century versions of his work, and that his first revival period took place as early as the 1760s, when ébénistes such as Etienne Levasseur, Philippe-Claude Montigny and Adam Weisweiler, restored and adapted existing Boulle cabinets, and incorporated panels of late 17th/early 18th century Boulle marquetry into new forms. Several cabinets of this type were produced in the 18^th century, including a pair by Etienne Levasseur (fig.1) around 1775 , around eight years after he restored the pair in the Louvre. Formerly the property of the 4^th Marquess of Hertford and now in the Wallace Collection, Levasseur’s pair differs from the present cabinet in several ways, most noticeably in that they do not have a rectangular plinth inserted between the lower door and the feet. On the Boulle original this was inserted at the behest of King Louis Phillipe around 1839, in his efforts to standardize the height of the Boulle cabinets in the Louvre collection.

The pair in the Wallace Collection was exhibited at the Musée rétrospectif de Paris in 1865, where they would have certainly renewed the interest of leading 19^th century French cabinetmakers in copying and transforming works by Boulle. Examples include one by Alexandre-Georges Fourdinois exhibited at the 1878 Exposition Universelle, a mid-19^th century English pair in The Frick Collection (1916.5.04-05), and a pair attributed to Winckelsen sold Christie's New York, 9th October 2013 lot 605 ($437,000). Another closely related pair, by Henry Dasson dated 1875-1878 sold Sotheby's New York, 20th April 2007 lot 213 ($360,000). The present cabinet bears very close comparison in the arrangement of the marquetry and form to the Dasson cabinets, which, given that Dasson bought Winckelsen’s workshop and stock in 1871, could lend weight to the Winckelsen attribution of the present cabinet. The use of the Souchet locks (see a fine free-standing Boulle commode by Winckelsen, sold Sotheby's New York 26th October 2010, and the pair offered at Christie’s), and the excellently well-crafted oak carcass are also consistent with Winckelsen’s oeuvre.