Typical of art/industrial design prevalent during the second half of the 19th century and disseminated via the ‘Great Exhibitions’, this impressive center table draws on multiple and varied design sources. The form, especially the square tapering baluster legs, recalls tables from the Italian renaissance and is harmoniously coupled with diverse marquetry motifs drawn from both Jean Berain and the néo-grec.
An attribution can be made by comparison with a cabinet called ‘Bahut style Grec’ designed by Jean Brandely (active 1867-1873) and made by Charles Guillaume Diehl (1811-1885) today in the Musée d'Orsay (OAO 992). The design inspiration is so varied however, that a non-European authorship is possible, for example the New York émigré Herter Brothers who are known to have collaborated with Diehl’s Parisian contemporary, the ébéniste Joseph Cremer (active 1855-1878), who fittingly was a famed artiste en mosaïque et marqueterie.