Lyonnaise cabinetmakers were renowned for their dynamic high and low relief carving with cornices and door panels strongly delineated by multiple levels of thick moldings. The cabinetmakers from Lyon were commissioned by the wealthy aristocracy of the area to craft only top quality pieces.  Regional furniture was primarily crafted in the mid-century rocaille or Louis XV style, with a strong emphasis on curves, asymmetry, and scrolled, foliated motifs.  Rococo was so popular outside of the capital that production of Louis XV style pieces in rural France extended well into the 19th century, long after Paris had moved on to the more austere Louis XVI and post-revolutionary styles.
This armoire is a fine example of this as well as the rigorous architectural order Lyonnaise cabinetmakers were known for.  The shaped and patterned frieze exhibits full field, hand carved ornamentation of c-scroll acanthus leaves, scrolling vines and flowers on a patterned ground.  At the top center of the frieze is a stunning large rocaille stylized shell jutting forward at an angle with acanthus leaves scrolling beneath.  At the base of the larger shell is another smaller asymmetrical shell jutting forward and turning almost 30 degrees with a margent of flowering vines dropping from it. What is most interesting here is, not until you open the door do you notice this is not attached to the larger shell, but to the dormante, which cleverly hides a beautifully carved rose with foliation behind it.  The cabinetmaker wanted both the dormante and the frieze to have ornamentation for the viewer. The tri-partite paneled doors have high and low relief levels on each panel. (Their interiors are also finished out.)  At the top center of each door’s thick outer molding is a stylized triple acanthus leaf jutting forward and rising up from curled leaves and another stylized shell atop a curved gadrooned leaf.  The top panels are “ en chapeau” or an arch flanked by shaped indents, beneath a highly decorated display of shells and scrolling rinceau on a  patterned ground. The center panels are most unusual with two shaped indented panels surrounded on the top and bottom with highly decorated shaped panels.  The bottom panels have a raised double arched molding centered on the bottom border with
a field of leaves on a patterned ground above two curved gadrooned leaves.

This is truly a magnificent example of a Lyonnaise armoire.

Condition:  Minor nicks, rubs and age separations to wood.  Portion of one leaf missing.