Late 19thC French Walnut Buffet Deux Corps c.1890

The good walnut buffet deux corp with a black walnut top and the whole with a warm and dry natural colour with a rich figured grain, the carcass with chamfered edges and matched veneered doors opening to reveal a shelved interior and including five original keys, to a marble middle tier and two drawers, to an egg and dart cornice and standing on shaped feet, the whole surviving from the last quarter of nineteenth century France.

The piece is in relatively good overall structural condition and there are no issues with stability. There is a small amount of old worm. The lower drawer to the top section is a later replacement. It consists of three pieces, the top, lower and marble shelf which sits between the two.

The buffet was one of the most favored types of furniture for French homes, especially the buffet a deux corps, which allowed for ample storage of fine heirlooms and kitchen goods. The name, buffet deux (two in French) corps is literally translated to “buffet with two bodies”, which provided an ingenious type of storage and display case. Since it could easily be split apart it was very easy to transport or travel with and deliver into homes through typical narrow doorways of past centuries.

A striking and useful piece of classic French furniture with a particularly appealing surface.