Travel scribe; CHARLES GUILLAUME DIEHL; France, Napoleon III, third quarter of the 20th century.

Travel writing desk; CHARLES GUILLAUME DIEHL; France, Napoleon III, third quarter of the twentieth century.
Rosewood, elm root, brass and mother-of-pearl inlay. Lined interior.
Retains key and has colorless glass inkwell.
Signed.
Measurements: 10 x 30,5 x 25 cm.
Travel writing desk made of rosewood, elm root and inlaid brass and mother-of-pearl with velvet lined interior. Charles-Guillaume Diehl was born in Steinbach in 1811. He moved to Paris in 1840, but was not entered in the Almanac du Commerce until 1850. After training as a tabletier, he developed his production into the manufacture of luxury furniture, drawing crowds at the Universal Exhibitions. Diehl made elegant small rosewood and thuja furniture in the style of Boulle, but these were chests and were what made him famous. Jules Mesnard, in 1867, summed up Diehl's production with great precision: "His work embraces all kinds of artistic furniture, from the 2-franc pin-box to the large 70,000-franc piece of furniture. He has ordinary furniture and expensive furniture."
Parisian and international clientele appreciated the abundant and elegant luxury objects he produced, as well as the objects of pleasing elegance present in the "Paris articles" and French marquetry. His skill in marquetry was rewarded with a silver medal at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867. Outside this production; He was known for his furniture, tables, cabinet bases and cabinets, often of very high quality, decorated with bronze, panels or elegant marquetry. During the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878, although he had obtained French nationality in 1872 Diehl was disqualified from the competition because of his success.