Art Nouveau vitrine cabinet, ca. 1900.
Carved wood and marquetry. Bevelled glass.
With key.
Measurements: 269 x 184.5 x 51 cm.
Art Nouveau vitrine-cabinet structured in three markedly differentiated bodies. Although it follows a symmetrical disposition, it is a design clearly framed within the Art Nouveau in its organic tendency, and hence the fluidity of the lines, totally protagonists of the design, which are combined with naturalistic flowers worked in marquetry with enormous delicacy and forms that evoke the vegetable without actually making it concrete. The latter is a characteristic feature of Art Nouveau, of great originality in the history of art, which had only previously been found in Rococo, the Auricular style and Celtic art. Structurally, it is worth noting that the layout of the central body is based on the traditional showcase model, in the form of a cupboard with one or two front doors; the side modules, which are lower in height, are set back from the main body, giving the latter greater prominence. The three modules rest on a lower level also structured in three, with legs that raise the unit in height, leaving an empty space between the floor and the beginning of the unit that gives it lightness, and highly sinuous curved waists typical of Art Nouveau furniture. Like the upper body, this lower body has doors decorated with floral marquetry and handles with a soft, organic, typically Art Nouveau appearance.