Bookcase attributable to Pierre Migeon around 1740

Large violet wood veneer bookcase opening with two leaves on the front.
Model with a cornice in the shape of a gendarme's hat and rounded doors in the upper part.
The entire bookcase is clad in a luxurious end-grain veneer*, decorated with diamond curls.
The upper and lower panels and the cornice are dark with large brass fluting.
Very beautiful gilded bronze ornamentation including four rocaille spandrels delimiting the panels.
Hand bolt and lock in beaten steel.
Original blown glass.
Softwood bottoms and core.
Good state of preservation, small restorations of marquetry uses.
Work attributable to Pierre Migeon, Paris, Louis XV period around 1740.

Size:

Height: 257 cm; Width: 145 cm; Depth: 57 cm

Our opinion:

The shape of our bookcase, its diamond curl decoration and the use of a veneer of treated violet wood in
end-grain wood are characteristic of Pierre Migeon's production of the 1730s and 1740s.
This furniture with generous shapes and monochrome veneers simply highlighted by fluting allowed him to
meet with success and to run the largest furniture business in Paris at the beginning of the reign of Louis XV.
In addition to a perfect mastery of its craft, Migeon collaborated with the greatest cabinetmakers of its time
but also with the best suppliers of marble, bronzes and ironwork.
Our library is a very good example of his production.
*End-grain: In joinery or marquetry, end-grain wood is the cutting of a piece of wood into a slice giving a
pattern of veins of equal spacing. The end-grain wood is therefore sawn perpendicular to the grain or fibers,
or cut transversely from the log. The section is said to be end-grain, as opposed to the wire wood cutout.

*Pierre IV Migeon (1696-1758) was a cabinetmaker and mercer who became a master in Paris around 1725.
Born into a family of cabinetmakers, all named Pierre, Pierre IV Migeon was the son of Pierre III Migeon
and Judith Mesureur. Fourth in his line, he single-handedly arouses all the interest of amateurs. Probably
trained in the factory of his father or father-in-law, his activity began in the first half of the eighteenth
century when the use of the stamp became widespread. If his master's degree date remains hypothetical, his
fame is known by many signed pieces of furniture, made from his factory on rue de Charenton. The latter
were handed over to a wealthy aristocratic clientele including the Duke of Orléans, the Duchess of Rohan,
the Duchess of Epernon, the Marshal of Noailles, but also several bishops and ambassadors. From the 1740s,
he delivered works for the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne and the Menus-Plaisirs. It benefits from the
protection of the Marquise de Pompadour. He also has many customers in France and abroad. Although
Migeon's profession was that of a cabinetmaker, he also worked as a merchant. He then collaborated with
many cabinetmakers - among the most renowned of his time - such as Bircklé, Canabas, Criaerd, Jacques
Dubois, Lacroix, Saunier and Topino.