A very good quality pair of late 19th century French mahogany bow fronted display cabinets, each with a gallery to the top, gilded ormolu foliate and molded mounts, central doors with a glass shelf within, a frieze drawer above a shelf beneath with a paneled back and raised on elegant cabriole legs.Signed; Paul Sormani (1817-1877), one the most important cabinetmakers of the 19th century, was born in Venice. Having trained as a cabinetmaker, he moved to Paris where he opened his first shop in 1847 specializing in furniture made in the Louis XV and Louis XVI style.When she decorated her palace, Empress Eugenie, the wife of Emperor Napoleon III, who was particularly fond of furniture in the 18th century styles, engaged Sormani to create spectacular pieces to compliment her period examples. Sormani was able to meet the Empress�s high standards with the excellent quality of the cabinet work, bronze mounts, use of lacquer and unusual marbles.Sormani�s firm was a maker of fine �m...