American Aesthetic Movement Inlaid Breakfront Cabinet/Sideboard

ca. 1880-1885, New York, by a Herter Brothers competitor, most probably Charles Tisch, the upper section with a broken-arch crest over a brass, wood and mother-of-pearl panel, and an arched, beveled mirror below, the mirror flanked by paired columns and beveled mirrors beneath brass-inlaid swag panels, on a base with an elevated center section, fitted with a drawer with a hidden mechanical release, and an arched well below, stepping down on each side to a drawer with ribbon and swag inlay over a door with like inlay and a raised, inlaid panel.

h. 92", w. 69", d. 16"

Notes: The use of metal in marquetry inlay was a popular element in the furniture of New York City Aesthetic movement makers. Inspired by Eastern and Far Eastern mixed metalwork, it was increasingly employed by Pottier & Stymus around 1876-77, and other makers such as Herter Brothers, Herts Brothers and Charles Tisch soon followed suit. Rather than the Eastern inlay motifs favored by firms such as Pottier & Stymus, Herter Brothers and George Schastey, this cabinet employs swag and ribbon marquetry of neoclassical inspiration. Herts Brothers, Neuman & Company and Charles Tisch more frequently utilized neoclassical-style metal with wood and/or mother-of-pearl inlay in their work. The inlaid brass and wood swags on the present piece share the use of large-scale brass flowers with a well-known cabinet by Charles Tisch now in the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. That cabinet was exhibited at the 1884 New Orleans Cotton Exhibition where it was awarded first prize.

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