A Rare Herter Bros. Inlaid and Painted Rosewood Cabinet, c. 1870, New York, the arched crest with distinctively carved gryphon over a cabinet door inset with pietra dura plaque of fruit over a narrow drawer and flanked by a scrolling inlaid backsplash; the lower central loggia with fluted column flanked by two drawers over painted panel doors depicting Bacchantes; on block feet; the whole with brass and various exotic wood inlay, height 86 in., width 69.25in. depth 23.25in E40000-60000 Note: The finely detailed construction and cabinetry seen on this example is clearly indicative of the Herter Firm. This important cabinet has decorative elements nearly identical to those on other known Herter Bros. work. A similar cabinet attributed to Herter Bros. and also inset with a pietre dura panel is part of the collection at the St. Louis Art Museum. The bacchante figure on the left cabinet panel is nearly identical to an "Elements" figure commissioned by Herter Bros. and painted by Pierre-Victor le Galland ( France 1822-1892) for the Le Grand Lockwood residence in Norwalk, Connecticut. One of the most sought after decorators in France in the Renaissance Revival and Fountainbleau style, Galland began collaborations with the Herter firm in 1868. See Howe, Frelinghuysen and Voorsanger Herter Brothers, Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age, p. 31, fig. 9 The miniature painted portrait medallion, also in the manner of Galland, is very similar to that on the crest of a chair conserved by the St. Louis Art Museum. See Howe, p. 146, fig 10. The brass and darkwood frieze inlay on the lower cabinet is identical to that used by Herter Bros. for a cabinet in the Milton Slocum Latham Residence, (Menlo Park, California) illustrated in Howe, pp. 162 and 218, fig. 17. Overall, the various decorative elements harmonize in a Bacchic motif, making this cabinet appropriate for use in a dining room or as a liquor cabinet in a gentleman's parlor. The eye-level pietra dura panel is inlaid with a foil backed alabaster grape cluster the carved and inlaid decoration features laurel thyrsus rods; and the panels painted by Galland on the lower cabinet are adorned with reveling Bacchanates.