Description

Exquisite Pair of fine Antique Gilt Bronze Mounted Tortoiseshell Inlaid Ebonized Boulle Marquetry Instruments by Gervais-Maximilien-Eugene Durand. Originals featuring exquisite bronze mounts with cherubs, brass and silver inlays. Fine instruments. Small chip to the wood and missing some brass strips and the boulle needs flattening and repair in places (see all pics). PARIS, CIRCA 1870 one a thermometer and the other a barometer, both stamped G. DURAND to the back. Height 43 inches x Width 5 3/4 inches x 2 to 2 1/2 inches deep.

Notes: Durand was born in Paris on 30th July 1839 and began work in 1870 at 12 rue de La Cerisaie. He later moved to the more fashionable rue St. Antoine. He was the first of three generations of highly sucessful cabinet makers, exhibiting widely at the International Exhibitions. At the 1889 Exhibition in Paris, he was commended as, “un ébéniste aussi habile que modeste, qui expose pour la premième fois des meubles de premier ordre, dont il est à la fois le dessinateur et l’exécutant; il marche sur la voie tracée par les maîtres tels que Beurdeley et Dasson.” GERVAIS-MAXIMILIEN-EUGENE DURAND B. 1839

Measurements: Each 43″ high x 5.3/4″ wide x 2 to 2 1/2 ” Deep