LOUIS XIV PERIOD CASE Attributed to Pierre Gole (circa 1620-1685) In ebony, walnut and fruitwood veneer, ivory and stained ivory inlays, the lid decorated in the centre with a bird perched on a branch in bloom from an acanthus leaf, the spandrels with foliage in bloom au naturel, the interior fitted with a writing desk, three compartments and a pencil box, resting on flattened ball feet; the interior fitted out in the later period. H. 10 cm (4 in.) l. 38 cm (15 in.) P. 32 cm (12 ½ in.) Provenance: Acquired by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818-1874) or his daughter Hannah de Rothschild (1851-1890), wife of the 5th Earl of Rosebery for Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire ; Then by descent to Harry Primrose (1882-1974), 6th Earl of Rosebery; Sotheby's London sale, Mentmore Towers, 18 May 1977, lot 121. A Louis XIV ebony, walnut, floral marquetry, ivory inlaid and stained ivory casket, attributed to Pierre Gole (circa 1620-1685) This magnificent case in native wood marquetry inlaid with ivory and stained ivory can be attributed to the work of Pierre Gole (circa 1620-1685), a leading cabinetmaker active during the early part of the reign of Louis XIV. Several cabinets or table tops attributed to him have many similarities with our example, both in the strikingly naturalistic treatment of the floral foliage and in the bird perched among branches decorating the lid (see Th. H. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pierre Gole ébéniste de Louis XIV, Editions Faton, Dijon, 2005, pp. 90-93, 109, 113). Pierre Gole played a decisive role in the development of a new type of polychrome flower marquetry from the end of the 1640s; this marquetry, using tortoiseshell, ivory or stained ivory, quickly distinguished itself from the Italian or Flemish decorations of the same period. In his after-death inventory drawn up in January 1685, alongside cupboards, desks and cabinets, we find a small group of miscellaneous pieces of furniture, including several chests, such as a very simple one in "Grenoble walnut", and writing cases. Among the few comparable pieces that have come up for sale in recent years and are attributed to Pierre Gole are the following: - Sotheby's Paris sale, 30 June 2016, lot 21; -Artcurial Paris sale, 15 December 2010, lot 6; -Christie's Paris sale, 14 November 2007, lot 135. Mentmore Towers and the Rotschild taste Situated in Buckinghamshire, this residence was built by the architect and landscape gardener Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) in the Jacobean style for the banker Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818-1874). Joseph Paxton, who designed the famous Crystal Palace inaugurated for the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851, was a fashionable architect when he received the commission, which he executed in the neo-Renaissance style so dear to the members of the Rothschild family and which defined his taste in architecture. Fitted out with the utmost luxury, the house was typical of the Rothschild taste for opulence, featuring a plethora of masterpieces collected with passion, which influenced the taste of the great fortunes of the time in Europe and the United States. Hannah (1851-1890), only daughter of Baron Mayer Amshel, inherited the estate, followed by her husband Archibald Philip Primrose (1847-1929), fifth Earl of Rosebery and future Prime Minister from 1894 to 1895. It then passed to their son Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose (1882-1974), the sixth Earl of Rosebery, who in turn became a politician and played a role with Churchill as a member of the Privy Council and Secretary of State for Scotland. The sale of Mentmore Castle, which brought together unprecedented collections, was dubbed the sale of the century in 1977 and remains a landmark event in the history of auctions, with the sale of numerous 18th-century masterpieces, some of which came from French royal collections. The sale also included another major work by Gole, a magnificent middle table inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, now in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. *Information for buyers: This lot will be delivered with its CIC certificate authorising its sale within the EU only. *Information to the buyers : This lot will be delivered with its CIC certificate authorizing its commerce in the EU only.