A Napoleon III parquetry card table by Sormani

A Napoleon III parquetry card table by Sormani, the shaped hinged top with ormolu ribbon and bead guilloche edging, decorated overall in kingwood, tulipwood and satinwood diamond trellis, all raised on cabriole legs applied with protruding foliate fronds, the frieze disguises an unusual arrangement of decorated panels which appear when the table is opened to support the playing surface, the lock stamped ‘Sormani, 10 rue Charlot Paris’.  French, circa  1860

Paul Sormani (1817-1877) was Italian born, establishing his first workshops in Paris in 1847, finally settling in Rue Charlot in 1867 and offering works of ‘a quality of execution of the first order’.  His specialty was copies of furniture in the style of the ‘Ancien Regime’.  The firm exhibited at the Paris Expositions Universelles of 1855 and 1867, and London 1862 and won several medals for excellence.