An extremely rare model Charles Dudouyt mid 20th Century French Art Deco oak sideboard.French circa 1940This fine sideboard is signed to the back by the great designer Charles Dudouyt. The use of geometric motifs with carved detailing, relatively uncommon during this period, is something particularly associated with Dudouyt''s designs and the use of oak is also quite typical for pieces that were designed in his atelier.At first glance the piece is almost baroque in character. The two sets of doors have a repetitive panelled motif made up of a series of ''frame'' mouldings of decreasing size, centering on a diamond design. Some of the mouldings are rounded and others have sharper geometric edges creating an interesting element of visual contrast. Beneath the doors are some additional applied mouldings which are somewhat Brutalist in style, as are the turned mouldings applied to the pilasters at both sides and between the two sets of doors. The sides of the piece are panelled and it stands on tall bracket feet. The top is edge moulded in a very sophisticated manner with chamfered sides and a raised central section. The iron metalwork is of very high quality and contrasts beautifully with the polished surfaces of the sideboard.The piece comes with a promotional image also showing the identical sideboard in an old black and white image.Charles DudouytBorn in 1885, Dudouyt was educated at the Germain Pilon school. In his early career he was largely employed as a painter and illustrator. He fought in WWI but upon his return to civilian life he turned his talents to the design of furniture and interior fittings such as lighting designs and objects of decoration. Dudouyt moved to Paris to establish his own firm known as La Gentilhommire which allowed him to start designing and making larger pieces of furniture. His sideboards soon became one of his signature pieces and his astute combination of antique motifs with those from the Art Deco, Modernist ...