Henri Dasson 1825 - 1896 A Louis XVI style gilt bronze mounted mahogany meuble à hauteur d'appui, Paris, third quarter 19th century

of demi-lune form, surmounted by a brèche violette marble top above a frieze drawer and fitted with three cupboard doors opening to two shelves, the carcass stamped HENRY DASSON to the right hand corner

D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Mobilier Français du XIX Siècle, Les Éditions de l’Amateur, Paris, 2000, pp. 146-149

This side cabinet was meant to be placed in a prominent room. Interestingly, it is constructed like a piece of architecture with pediments and marble tops framing a picture, here rendered with a very fine gilt bronze mount depicting an allegory of victory: a pair of embracing doves perched above a bow and crossed quiver and torch.

Henry Dasson (1825-1896) established his workshop at 106, rue Vielle du Temple, after a brief career at rue des Nonnains-d’ Hières in the fabrication of bronze artifacts and clocks in association with Emile Godeau.  A gifted draftsman, Dasson studied under Justin Marie Lequien, professor at the École Superieur Turgot.  In 1871, he bought the workshop and stock for 14,000 francs from the widow of the ébéniste Charles-Guillaume Winckelsen, and soon became recognized as a brilliant ébéniste and bronzier.  Specializing mostly in the production of works from the Garde Meuble National, he participated in the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle prompting critic Louis Gonse to comment: ‘nouveau venu dans la carrière industrielle, Henri Dasson s'est rapidement crée par la perfection de ses oeuvres une très haute situation à laquelle nous applaudissons chaleureusement.’ He was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1883 and was awarded the Grand Prix Artistique at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle. When the business closed in 1894, an auction was organized to clear the remainder of his stock.