Art Quality Antiques: 18th century French Buffet à Deux Corps (period furniture education)

A mid-18th century publication quality port piece (in solid mahogany which would arrive to Europe via the ports). This presentation cabinet for fine plates and silver, a type of four doored armoire built in two tiers is often called a two-tiered buffet or buffet à deux corps. This particular piece, by virtue of its excellent design and execution, was published as a benchmark in the key text on this special type of art furniture, "Le Meuble de Port," by Louis Malfoy. The book situates the origin of the piece as Charante, which I failed to mention during the video ( saying the port of origin was the port of Nantes where I recently, incidentally, acquired the work).

In any case, I hope you enjoy examining this piece here before it is crated, as the best way to learn about "antiques" and hone discernment is to see as many good pieces as possible. This video follows previous ones which cover the topic of port furniture (a special and rare variety of sophisticated French regional furniture which should not be loosely confused with rustic or "country" furniture). Such a piece is more what the French language recognizes as a regional masterpiece, showcasing the height of style of given city or region for a given period. France is comprised of many distinct regions which each left distinct marks on furniture/art history.

For those who are new to this subject entirely, part of the goal here is to convey the difference between regular antiques and works of decorative art, in this case a benchmark work because it is a piece against which we can judge others. The best examples of pre industrial furniture, through their quality and originality, are works of art. That’s why when one calls this genre of art “the decorative arts,” one designates not an inferior art which is just decorative, but rather decoration which has reached the level of true Art. Many thanks to all viewers and subscribers, Cole Myers & Monroe, LLC