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Museum · originally published

Charles-Guillaume Diehl - It Does Not Get Much Better

CabinetGildedInlaidCharles Guillaume DiehlJean BrandelyEmmanuel FremietEmile GuilleminJewelrySatinwoodEbonyBronzeMaple

Charles Guillaume Diehl Jewelry Cabinet
Charles Guillaume Diehl Jewelry Cabinet

Charles Guillaume Diehl Jewelry Cabinet

Another stop on my Philadelphia Museum of Art visit, this Neo-Grec jewelry cabinet was considered a "masterpiece" at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867. This cabinet is still a show-stopper today and was manufactured by Charles-Guillaume Diehl. The cabinet has a hidden release mechanism that opens the door and top. Construction includes dyed inlaid woods of Maple, Satinwood, Sycamore, and Ebony with gilded bronze mounts. Diehl was born in Steinbach, Hesse, Germany in 1811 and set up business in Paris in 1840. By 1870 he had 600 employees. He participated in many of the European Exhibitions and Expositions, including in the years 1855, 1861, 1867, and 1873, winning medals in many cases. It should be mentioned that many of his best pieces were collaborations with designer Jean Brandely and sculptors Emmanuel Fremiet and Emile Guillemin. Here are a few of his other fabulous works at the Musee d'Orsay, here and here.
This article originally included an image gallery. Some images may be unavailable in the preserved archive.

2 comments

  1. woodwright
    The winged griffins at the base of the pilasters on this jewelery cabinet are extremely similar to the ones on the Allen and Brother (Philadelphia) Credenza featured here on RareV. in an earlier post https://rarevictorian.fly.dev/tag/allen-and-brother/page/2
  2. RareVictorian
    Yes, I almost mentioned Allen & Brother due to the griffins and the fact that the shape of one of the cabinets in the Musee d’Orsay links is similar to some Allen & Brother cabinets. The bronze plaque on the same cabinet looks very like the Allen & Brother one here.

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