Important Louis XVI Style Dining Room Set by Mercier Frères, France, c 1900

Elegant Louis XVI style dining room set, inspired by the models of Adam Weisweiler, adorned with gilded bronze, composed of :

– A beautiful table whose tray and transom are belted with a finely chiseled gilded bronze frieze, resting on four brass fluted feet.
Height : 75 cm (29,5 in.) ; Width : 128 cm (50,4 in.) ; Length : 150 cm (59 in.) + 4 extensions of 50 x 128 cm (19,7 x 50,4 in.) = Total length : 350 cm (137,8 in.)

– A dresser with curved shape on the sides, opening with a drawer in belt and resting on four brass fluted columns ending by four toupie feet joined by a tablet with an openwork gallery. The whole is topped with a Breche marble.
Height : 96 cm (37,8 in.) ; Length : 139 cm (54,7 in.) ; Depth : 46 cm (18,1 in.)

– A sideboard opening with three leaves underlined with pearls and adorned with a beautiful ornementation of oval, egg-and-dart friezes, and ribbons. Framed by upright ribbed columns on the angles and resting on four toupie feet, the whole is topped with a Breche marble.
Height : 102 cm (40,1 in.) ; Length : 161,5 cm (63,6 in.) ; Depth : 59 cm (23,2 in.)

– A set of ten chairs with sabre back feet, adorned with chiselled and gilded bronze.
Height : 87 cm (34,2 in.) ; Width : 48 cm (18,9 in.) ; Depth : 41 cm (16,1 in.)

Biography :
Claude Mercier (born in 1803) installed in Paris, 15 rue Beautreillis in 1828, then moved to 100 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, where the firm has been maintained until present days. As soon as 1856, the company became Mercier Père et fils then, in 1863 Mercier fils aîné, and finally in 1867, Mercier Frères, still current name. Mercier was in 1855 supplier of the royal Court of Spain. His house quickly became welknown and participated from 1844 in all art exhibitions. At the French Industry Products Exhibition held in Paris in 1844, he was awarded an « mention honorable » for his carved rosewood furniture and received a bronze medal at the 1849 London fair. In 1852, he won a second-class medal. At the 1855 Paris Universal Exhibition, Mercier showed a wardrobe, a canopy bed as well as an ebony table. At the Exposition of the Union Centrale des Beaux-Arts, the Mercier brothers presented, as their masterpiece, a walnut buffet, which won a medal. At the 1867 Paris Universal Exhibition, they sent ebony furniture for bedrooms and Louis XVI style tables. Claude Mercier seems to have stamped his works very exceptionally.