Monumental 19th Century Masonic Display Cabinet from South Dakota

PRESENTING a GORGEOUS late 19th Century French Louis XVI STyle Cabinet in the Manner of Grohe Freres. From circa 1880. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS Ormolu mounts...

Stunning 19th century French Empire, neoclassical/Rococo Revival style Marquetry vitrine or display cabinet, of large proportions!! A real statement piece! Made of a fabulous variety of veneers, including kingwood, satinwood, tulipwood, harewood and walnut with quality classical ormolu mounts. It has ebonized pillars in the Empire style, with walnut and exotic hardwood friezes in the Rococo style. Double glass doors to middle section and single glass doors on either side. The glass on the doors are framed in ormolu banding. Floral Marquetry panels on front and parquetry on the sides. The front central section is a pullout / pull-out drawers with gorgeous walnut frieze panel and original carved walnut knobs. Scrolling pelmet on the top in 3 sections banded in ormolu beading. Scrolling base with cabriolet feet and ormolu mounts on base. Various ormolu mounts, floral mounts, mounts of Baachus and mounts of neoclassical female figures. In 3 sections. with 2 side cabinets and large central section with 3 section pelmet, stunning piece!!! The quality ormolu mounts are marked with the letter “R” and what appears to be “FR 678”. We were originally of the belief that this piece might have been made at the very end of the 19th century, but having regard to the quality of workmanship throughout this piece we are of the opinion that it was most likely made in the third quarter of the 19th century, circa 1870 and by an obviously top quality Parisienne maker with a surname beginning with “R”. It is definitely in the style of David Roentgen who was known for his Rococo/neoclassical styles. David Roentgen, (born Aug. 11, 1743-died Feb. 12, 1807, Wiesbaden, Duchy of Nassau), cabinetmaker to Queen Marie-Antoinette of France; under his direction the family workshop at Neuwied (near Cologne), founded by his father, Abraham Roentgen, became perhaps the most-successful firm of furniture production in the 18th century. After succeeding his father as head of the Neuwied workshop in 1772, Roentgen strove to broaden their clientele, an ambition that brought him first to Hamburg and ultimately to Paris (1774), where in 1779 he was spectacularly successful in selling his finest furniture to King Louis XVI of France for £3,300 to £4,000, an unprecedented sum for the time. Appointed cabinetmaker to the queen, Roentgen was granted admission (1780) as maître-ébéniste (master cabinetmaker) to the trade corporation of Paris cabinetmakers, making it possible for him to keep in Paris a stock of the furniture manufactured at Neuwied. Thus he was able to compete with such great cabinetmakers as Jean-Henri Riesener and Adam Weisweiler, reputedly his former pupil at Neuwied. After his first visit to St. Petersburg, Empress Catherine II the Great bought huge quantities of his furniture; King Frederick William II of Prussia was also his client. When in 1795 the French Revolutionary armies threatened to cross the Rhine, Roentgen evacuated his establishment and moved his stock farther inland. Unfortunately, he lost everything in his Parisian salon and in his Neuwied workshop, both of which were sacked by Republican troops. He was crushed, despite his appointment as court furnisher to the king of Prussia. Although he never succeeded in starting production again, former apprentices of his whom he helped to establish in the German cities of Berlin (David Hacker...