Living room table with a mechanism by J. Schmitz, Paris, circa 1750

Extremely rare coffee table with floral marquetry on all sides.
It rests on four arched legs connected by a shelf of struts. The top, the cross pieces, and the shelf are decorated with rosewood reserves of flowers in marquetry of stained and finely engraved wood, on a background of violet wood.
It opens with two drawers in the belt, one of which is lined with leather and serves as a writing desk. It uncovers a box lined with blue silk and a small side drawer that contains writing utensils (inkwell, sandbox, and sponge box).
The top, with a cabaret on three sides, opens with a flap that reveals an ingenious system consisting of two removable and multidirectional steel torches, and a screen with an adjustable rack-and-pinion screen.

Stamped "J. Shmitz "* and the Jurande’s stamp "JME".

Very good condition.

Paris, Louis XV period, circa 1750.

The second table is made to the model at the very beginning of the 19th century.

Dimensions:

Height: 71.5cm; width: 49 cm; depth: 36 cm.

Our opinion:

The coffee table we present allows its user to write at night and as close as possible to the fireplace, thanks to its screen and its removable torches. This type of small "flying" furniture reflects perfectly the art of living in the Age of Enlightenment and the ingenuity of Parisian cabinetmakers.
Several guilds (cabinetmakers, leather workers, ironworkers) were needed to make such a piece of furniture, which could not be made without the participation of mercantile merchants.
Our table is accompanied by its faithful replica made at the beginning of the 19th century. Only a well-informed eye can detect a slightly later manufacture, which remains a very beautiful work of cabinetmaking (thick veneer sawn by hand, riveted rack, old silk...).
This type of period furniture, with its double from the nineteenth century, is characteristic of the great castles’ furnishing.
*Joseph Schmitz - cabinetmaker. Paris. Master on June the 18th, 1761. He lived on rue de Charonne, where he disappeared before 1782. His mark is frequently found on Louis XV furniture in veneers, such as ladies' tables and chests of drawers.