Antique tableau with plaster impressions

French Giltwood Tableau of Classical Plaster Impressions, 19th Century

A mid-19th-century French tableau composed of five plaster impressions after antique cameos, arranged on embossed green paper within a period giltwood frame.

Dimensions: 7" × 6"
Origin: France, circa 1840–1860

A refined 19th-century French composition featuring five plaster impressions after antique cameos, beautifully presented within a period giltwood frame. The frame itself is a work of art, with softly rounded corners and original gilding that has aged to a warm, muted gold. Its surface shows the gentle wear of time, revealing flashes of red bole beneath the gilding — the kind of patina that only develops over generations.

The plaster profiles are mounted on embossed green paper, a distinctly French decorative choice. This papier gaufré, pressed to imitate tooled leather and brushed with faint gilt highlights, was a favored material in mid-19th-century interiors. It bridges the scholarly and the ornamental — a sophisticated backdrop that transforms academic study pieces into objects of beauty.

Together, the gilded frame and embossed paper create a tableau that reflects the refined tastes of Louis-Philippe and early Napoleon III France, when classical imagery and decorative craft intertwined effortlessly.