Furniture made in France before 1900
See also : Furniture 18th century furniture Louis XIV to XVI Revolution and Empire European ceramics French time pieces Clocks Old clocks
Chronology : 1660-1679 1680-1699 1720-1729 1750-1759 1770-1779 1780-1789 1790-1799
Chronology : 1660-1679 1680-1699 1720-1729 1750-1759 1770-1779 1780-1789 1790-1799
1665-1675 The Italian Influence at the Gobelins
2009 SOLD 4.5 M£ including premium
The creation of the Gobelins in Paris is included in a highly political context in which art is important.
The minister of Louis XIV was Mazarin, the Italian, a great lover of art. The Superintendent of Finance was Fouquet, patron of artists including Le Brun. In 1661, Mazarin dies. His close associate, the very active Colbert, excites the rage of the king against the luxurious château de Vaux, Fouquet's personal property.
Now, Colbert's hands are free. In 1662 he creates the Manufacture des Meubles de la Couronne in the then suburbs of the Gobelins. The idea is to provide the king with luxurious furniture by protecting the best cabinetmakers and tapestry makers so that their art is reserved for royal commissions. The management of the Manufacture is entrusted to Le Brun.
Having come from Italy, Domenico Cucci made several luxury furniture at the Gobelins, including a pair of large cabinets for Versailles in 1664. The similarity of design allows Christie's to date between 1665 and 1675 another cabinet, for sale in London on December 10, which was probably done on an order of the Queen of Sweden.
This high furniture of Flemish style is perched on a stand of stone caryatids, and adorned with gilded bronze and with Pietre Dure from Florence. The caryatids may be the work of another Italian, Philippe Caffieri, husband of the sister of Le Brun and cousin of Cucci. A family business that would have pleased Mazarin!
Christie's estimates the piece of furniture around 4 million pounds.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result meets the expectations and expertise of the auction house: £ 4.5 million including premium.
Here is the image of this lot shared post sale by AuctionPublicity.
The minister of Louis XIV was Mazarin, the Italian, a great lover of art. The Superintendent of Finance was Fouquet, patron of artists including Le Brun. In 1661, Mazarin dies. His close associate, the very active Colbert, excites the rage of the king against the luxurious château de Vaux, Fouquet's personal property.
Now, Colbert's hands are free. In 1662 he creates the Manufacture des Meubles de la Couronne in the then suburbs of the Gobelins. The idea is to provide the king with luxurious furniture by protecting the best cabinetmakers and tapestry makers so that their art is reserved for royal commissions. The management of the Manufacture is entrusted to Le Brun.
Having come from Italy, Domenico Cucci made several luxury furniture at the Gobelins, including a pair of large cabinets for Versailles in 1664. The similarity of design allows Christie's to date between 1665 and 1675 another cabinet, for sale in London on December 10, which was probably done on an order of the Queen of Sweden.
This high furniture of Flemish style is perched on a stand of stone caryatids, and adorned with gilded bronze and with Pietre Dure from Florence. The caryatids may be the work of another Italian, Philippe Caffieri, husband of the sister of Le Brun and cousin of Cucci. A family business that would have pleased Mazarin!
Christie's estimates the piece of furniture around 4 million pounds.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result meets the expectations and expertise of the auction house: £ 4.5 million including premium.
Here is the image of this lot shared post sale by AuctionPublicity.
1688 André Charles Boulle, the Pioneer of Prestige
2009 SOLD 2.6 M£ including premium
In the history of art, it is difficult to identify a single man who had alone a greater influence than André Charles Boulle.
In the 1680s, his creativity is immense. He brings the elegance into the apartments of the princes. The royal orders came later.
His furniture is perfect, by their form, decoration and material. Until the sale at Christie's in London on July 9, three of them were gathered in Wrotham Park, a residence of the English aristocracy, where they had arrived nearly two centuries ago.
We must not be surprised by the diversity of forms of Boulle furniture. The models for this great experimenter were mostly from his own inspiration, and his most brilliant creations were imitated to generate the French style. Our three pieces are cabinets high placed on carved stands : a pair of sarcophagus-shaped coffers made to 1688 and a cabinet with drawers which is even older, circa 1680.
The decor here includes all that is best in the inlaid Boulle marquetry, with its famous inclusions of brass, pewter and tortoiseshell.
The coffers are sold as a pair on a low estimate of £ 2.5 million. The cabinet, perhaps less easy to sell because of its more extensive changes in the late eighteenth century, is estimated 700 K £.
POST SALE COMMENT
£ 2.6 million including premium for the pair of coffers. It is a great auction result for furniture, although the low estimate has not been reached. The press release states that this lot was purchased by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
The cabinet does not follow them: it was not sold. I had explained why it would be more difficult to sell. This confirms that the detailed reading of the catalog is essential to judge the importance of furniture.
In the 1680s, his creativity is immense. He brings the elegance into the apartments of the princes. The royal orders came later.
His furniture is perfect, by their form, decoration and material. Until the sale at Christie's in London on July 9, three of them were gathered in Wrotham Park, a residence of the English aristocracy, where they had arrived nearly two centuries ago.
We must not be surprised by the diversity of forms of Boulle furniture. The models for this great experimenter were mostly from his own inspiration, and his most brilliant creations were imitated to generate the French style. Our three pieces are cabinets high placed on carved stands : a pair of sarcophagus-shaped coffers made to 1688 and a cabinet with drawers which is even older, circa 1680.
The decor here includes all that is best in the inlaid Boulle marquetry, with its famous inclusions of brass, pewter and tortoiseshell.
The coffers are sold as a pair on a low estimate of £ 2.5 million. The cabinet, perhaps less easy to sell because of its more extensive changes in the late eighteenth century, is estimated 700 K £.
POST SALE COMMENT
£ 2.6 million including premium for the pair of coffers. It is a great auction result for furniture, although the low estimate has not been reached. The press release states that this lot was purchased by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
The cabinet does not follow them: it was not sold. I had explained why it would be more difficult to sell. This confirms that the detailed reading of the catalog is essential to judge the importance of furniture.
1700 The Art of Collecting Shells or Medals
2012 SOLD 2.85 M€ including premium (declared fraudulent in 2014)
Cabinets of curiosities aroused vocations for specialized collections. It was however required that the storage of medals, insects or shellfish was made easy.
The classical tall armoire was not appropriate. Boulle, always inclined to create furniture adapted to practical needs, develops around 1700 a model of low cabinets with many thin drawers.
The collection hobby is the prerogative of an elite of rich courtiers. Made in pairs and inlaid in partie and contre-partie, these small pieces of furniture are among the most lavishly decorated works of the master.
One of these pairs, 102 cm high, is estimated € 1.5 M, for sale on September 26 in Paris by Europ Auction. It is dated from Louis XIV reign without further accuracy.
Each cabinet has twelve drawers in three columns, each column being hidden behind a panel. The panel on front side opens in a luxurious surrounding of bronzes. It is decorated with a vase of flowers in inlaid copper, tin and tortoiseshell. The other two panels, one on each lateral side of the cabinet, are decorated with simulated drawers, a very nice proof of the humor of their creator.
This shape of furniture has been successful throughout the eighteenth century, especially with Etienne Levasseur who was the best successor to the Boulle family. A pair of cabinets stamped by Levasseur circa 1785 was sold CHF 1.5 million including premium by the same auction house on June 23, 2010 in Geneva.
POST SALE COMMENT
The authentic cabinets made by Boulle rightly raise some excitement. This pair was sold € 2.2 million before fees, 2.85 million including premium.
2014 COMMENT
This sale was declared fraudulent by the Conseil des Ventes.
Reported by LexTimes.
The classical tall armoire was not appropriate. Boulle, always inclined to create furniture adapted to practical needs, develops around 1700 a model of low cabinets with many thin drawers.
The collection hobby is the prerogative of an elite of rich courtiers. Made in pairs and inlaid in partie and contre-partie, these small pieces of furniture are among the most lavishly decorated works of the master.
One of these pairs, 102 cm high, is estimated € 1.5 M, for sale on September 26 in Paris by Europ Auction. It is dated from Louis XIV reign without further accuracy.
Each cabinet has twelve drawers in three columns, each column being hidden behind a panel. The panel on front side opens in a luxurious surrounding of bronzes. It is decorated with a vase of flowers in inlaid copper, tin and tortoiseshell. The other two panels, one on each lateral side of the cabinet, are decorated with simulated drawers, a very nice proof of the humor of their creator.
This shape of furniture has been successful throughout the eighteenth century, especially with Etienne Levasseur who was the best successor to the Boulle family. A pair of cabinets stamped by Levasseur circa 1785 was sold CHF 1.5 million including premium by the same auction house on June 23, 2010 in Geneva.
POST SALE COMMENT
The authentic cabinets made by Boulle rightly raise some excitement. This pair was sold € 2.2 million before fees, 2.85 million including premium.
2014 COMMENT
This sale was declared fraudulent by the Conseil des Ventes.
Reported by LexTimes.
Louis XIV - Cassettes by André-Charles Boulle
2014 SOLD for € 1.67M including premium
The furniture used to store the objects were in old times the armoires (high cabinets) of large capacity for a stationary use, and the coffres (coffers or chests) that accompanied the travelers.
Around 1700, André-Charles Boulle develops new models of furniture for small items: jewelry, medals, collections, bathroom accessories. The cabinet with drawers becomes the precursor of the commode designed by himself circa 1706.
The cassette or coffre de toilette is a small coffer mounted on a base of same area. Sixty years later, when the storage box becomes narrower than the tablet, this model of furniture will become the bonheur-du-jour.
These innovations also precede the flat desk, which should be mentioned here as a reminder that Boulle was the designer of all modern forms of French furniture. The luxury of his inlays in première partie and contrepartie and of his gilded bronzes is also unprecedented.
From 1700 until the fire of 1720 and perhaps a little beyond, the cassette sur piétement was one of Boulle's regular product lines. The coffer and its ornamentation were prepared independently and assembled when the workshop received an order.
A pair of cassettes sur piétement was sold for £ 1.55M including premium at Christie's on December 8, 1994.
Another pair also attributed to Boulle is estimated € 1.5M, for sale by Christie's in Paris on November 5, lot 53. The base with four covered feet is topped with a drawer and equipped with a spacer plate centered by a bronze vase.
Around 1700, André-Charles Boulle develops new models of furniture for small items: jewelry, medals, collections, bathroom accessories. The cabinet with drawers becomes the precursor of the commode designed by himself circa 1706.
The cassette or coffre de toilette is a small coffer mounted on a base of same area. Sixty years later, when the storage box becomes narrower than the tablet, this model of furniture will become the bonheur-du-jour.
These innovations also precede the flat desk, which should be mentioned here as a reminder that Boulle was the designer of all modern forms of French furniture. The luxury of his inlays in première partie and contrepartie and of his gilded bronzes is also unprecedented.
From 1700 until the fire of 1720 and perhaps a little beyond, the cassette sur piétement was one of Boulle's regular product lines. The coffer and its ornamentation were prepared independently and assembled when the workshop received an order.
A pair of cassettes sur piétement was sold for £ 1.55M including premium at Christie's on December 8, 1994.
Another pair also attributed to Boulle is estimated € 1.5M, for sale by Christie's in Paris on November 5, lot 53. The base with four covered feet is topped with a drawer and equipped with a spacer plate centered by a bronze vase.
1720s The Bureau of Six Pieds
2014 SOLD for CHF 3M including premium
The bureau plat is developed by Boulle in the last years of the reign of Louis XIV. This simple and effective furniture offers a flat surface for writing, with drawers in the belt and sometimes a filing cabinet for storing papers. Woods and ornaments make it immediately a high class furniture.
The earliest record concerning a flat desk is made in 1713 in the inventory of a merchant, showing that the come back of luxury in France did not wait for the Régence.
André-Charles Boulle began his career half a century earlier and is the most notable furniture designer of his time. At the time of the Régence, he acts as an entrepreneur, seconded by his four sons and employing many workers. His workshops are in the Louvre.
Boulle standardizes his production of bureaux plats in two sizes, 5 pieds and 6 pieds long. Some exceptional pieces are larger, such as the desk of 6 pieds 8 pouces sold for £ 2.9 million including premium by Christie's on December 14, 2005.
Boulle workshops at the Louvre burned in 1720, possibly by arson. The inventory provides interesting information about the activity. The extraordinary art collection assembled by Boulle was also destroyed.
The waiting pieces were quite numerous, suggesting that the elements were prepared in advance before final assembly and decoration to customer requirements, enabling to reduce the time between order and delivery. It also appears that the most common model was the 6 pieds with a top of 6 x 3 pieds, 195 x 98 cm.
Restarted after the fire, the production of these models by Boulle ceased around 1725.
On September 18 in Zurich, Koller sells a bureau plat of six pieds attributed to Boulle, richly decorated in première-partie (dark background) and embellished with false drawers in the back. The faces are centered with masks, Satyr in the front and Democritus in the rear. It is estimated CHF 1.5M, lot 1078 shared on Invaluable.
Note that this standardization of dimensions was not limited to Boulle. A bureau Régence attributed to Gérard discussed in this column in 2011 had the same size for the top and also for its height at 2 pieds 6 pouces.
I used the old French units, but they were little different from the English values, foot and inch.
The earliest record concerning a flat desk is made in 1713 in the inventory of a merchant, showing that the come back of luxury in France did not wait for the Régence.
André-Charles Boulle began his career half a century earlier and is the most notable furniture designer of his time. At the time of the Régence, he acts as an entrepreneur, seconded by his four sons and employing many workers. His workshops are in the Louvre.
Boulle standardizes his production of bureaux plats in two sizes, 5 pieds and 6 pieds long. Some exceptional pieces are larger, such as the desk of 6 pieds 8 pouces sold for £ 2.9 million including premium by Christie's on December 14, 2005.
Boulle workshops at the Louvre burned in 1720, possibly by arson. The inventory provides interesting information about the activity. The extraordinary art collection assembled by Boulle was also destroyed.
The waiting pieces were quite numerous, suggesting that the elements were prepared in advance before final assembly and decoration to customer requirements, enabling to reduce the time between order and delivery. It also appears that the most common model was the 6 pieds with a top of 6 x 3 pieds, 195 x 98 cm.
Restarted after the fire, the production of these models by Boulle ceased around 1725.
On September 18 in Zurich, Koller sells a bureau plat of six pieds attributed to Boulle, richly decorated in première-partie (dark background) and embellished with false drawers in the back. The faces are centered with masks, Satyr in the front and Democritus in the rear. It is estimated CHF 1.5M, lot 1078 shared on Invaluable.
Note that this standardization of dimensions was not limited to Boulle. A bureau Régence attributed to Gérard discussed in this column in 2011 had the same size for the top and also for its height at 2 pieds 6 pouces.
I used the old French units, but they were little different from the English values, foot and inch.
1750 Lacquer Commodes by Bernard
2011 SOLD 3.45 M$ including premium
Charles Cressent had a mysterious rival as the best cabinetmaker in the early reign of Louis XV, after the Régence. Both were suppliers of the king and of the aristocracy.
Most of the Parisian furniture remained anonymous until 1743,the year when the stamp was made mandatory. The rival master therefore signed his works with the letters BVRB.
It was the time when the marchands-merciers dictated the law of taste in furnishings. They had started the fashion of decorating furniture with those lavish black lacquer panels decorated with scenes from the Far East that they imported from China and Japan. The luxurious decoration of gilded bronzes kept up the lacquered panel.
BVRB was one of the first to bend the lacquer panels to fit the curved shape of Louis XV commodes. The sumptuous commode illustrated in the press release shared by Artdaily is attributed to him. Estimated $ 3M, it is one of the star lots in the Safra collection, for sale by Sotheby's in New York from October 18 to 21.
Its design is similar as for the specimen stamped BVRB sold 15.4 MF by Christie's in Monaco on June 19, 1999, made in the 1750s for Machault d'Arnouville. It is certainly later than the royal commode, also signed, delivered to Fontainebleau in 1737.
Feeling the need to give a name to BVRB, furniture connoisseurs named him Bernard until his full identity is demonstrated in 1957 : Bernard (II) Van Riesen Burgh, received master circa 1735.
Note that the presence of a mark is not enough to date a piece of furniture after 1743, because some earlier pieces were returned to the shop to be repaired or modified. On the opposite, the lack of a stamp mark is suggesting a date before 1743.
The date suggested by the catalogue for this piece of furniture is circa 1750.
POST SALE COMMENT
It was one of the top lots in the sale of the Safra collection. It was sold $ 3.45 million including premium.
Most of the Parisian furniture remained anonymous until 1743,the year when the stamp was made mandatory. The rival master therefore signed his works with the letters BVRB.
It was the time when the marchands-merciers dictated the law of taste in furnishings. They had started the fashion of decorating furniture with those lavish black lacquer panels decorated with scenes from the Far East that they imported from China and Japan. The luxurious decoration of gilded bronzes kept up the lacquered panel.
BVRB was one of the first to bend the lacquer panels to fit the curved shape of Louis XV commodes. The sumptuous commode illustrated in the press release shared by Artdaily is attributed to him. Estimated $ 3M, it is one of the star lots in the Safra collection, for sale by Sotheby's in New York from October 18 to 21.
Its design is similar as for the specimen stamped BVRB sold 15.4 MF by Christie's in Monaco on June 19, 1999, made in the 1750s for Machault d'Arnouville. It is certainly later than the royal commode, also signed, delivered to Fontainebleau in 1737.
Feeling the need to give a name to BVRB, furniture connoisseurs named him Bernard until his full identity is demonstrated in 1957 : Bernard (II) Van Riesen Burgh, received master circa 1735.
Note that the presence of a mark is not enough to date a piece of furniture after 1743, because some earlier pieces were returned to the shop to be repaired or modified. On the opposite, the lack of a stamp mark is suggesting a date before 1743.
The date suggested by the catalogue for this piece of furniture is circa 1750.
POST SALE COMMENT
It was one of the top lots in the sale of the Safra collection. It was sold $ 3.45 million including premium.
1757 The Pompadour Style
2012 SOLD 3.2 M£ including premium
What is most luxurious and most exquisite is for the king. At the time of Qianlong, Louis XV is reigning in France.
Louis XV likes to have fun, especially if it contradicts the étiquette. In 1745, his new mistress is young and pretty. She was not born in the aristocracy, and the king once again shocked the courtiers in naming her Marquise de Pompadour.
Irregular husband and lover, the king had gone to further female conquests, but the vast cultural intelligence of Pompadour still makes her the best referee of the great French style. The hôtel d'Evreux, offered by Louis to the Marquise in 1754 and which was to become much later the palais de l'Elysée, is furnished in a splendour that can well compete with Versailles.
The Parisian craft is fabulously encouraged. After a tumultuous career, Cressent closes his business in 1756. His best successor to the court, who signs BVRB, is a discreet man whose biographical details are largely unknown.
On December 6 in London, Christie's sells a secrétaire à abattant stamped by BVRB. This piece 1.30 m high is not a single model, but only two examples are known with Japanese lacquer, the supreme refinement of the time, and only this one is complete.
Christie's states that it is almost certainly the piece of furniture sold to Pompadour on February 19, 1757 by the important marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux, and the catalog tells that it would be the most expensive supply made by Duvaux to the Marquise.
This secrétaire has all the qualities of a masterpiece and formerly belonged to the prestigious Riahi collection. It is estimated £ 3M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very elegant piece of furniture did not exceed its lower estimate. It was sold £ 3.2M including premium.
Louis XV likes to have fun, especially if it contradicts the étiquette. In 1745, his new mistress is young and pretty. She was not born in the aristocracy, and the king once again shocked the courtiers in naming her Marquise de Pompadour.
Irregular husband and lover, the king had gone to further female conquests, but the vast cultural intelligence of Pompadour still makes her the best referee of the great French style. The hôtel d'Evreux, offered by Louis to the Marquise in 1754 and which was to become much later the palais de l'Elysée, is furnished in a splendour that can well compete with Versailles.
The Parisian craft is fabulously encouraged. After a tumultuous career, Cressent closes his business in 1756. His best successor to the court, who signs BVRB, is a discreet man whose biographical details are largely unknown.
On December 6 in London, Christie's sells a secrétaire à abattant stamped by BVRB. This piece 1.30 m high is not a single model, but only two examples are known with Japanese lacquer, the supreme refinement of the time, and only this one is complete.
Christie's states that it is almost certainly the piece of furniture sold to Pompadour on February 19, 1757 by the important marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux, and the catalog tells that it would be the most expensive supply made by Duvaux to the Marquise.
This secrétaire has all the qualities of a masterpiece and formerly belonged to the prestigious Riahi collection. It is estimated £ 3M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very elegant piece of furniture did not exceed its lower estimate. It was sold £ 3.2M including premium.
1763 Bureau plat by Joseph with Sèvres porcelain plaques
2005 SOLD 6.9 M€ including premium by Artcurial
1765 Joseph and the Japanese Lacquer
2012 SOLD 1.7 M£ including premium
Joseph Baumhauer arrived in Paris before 1745. This skilful German cabinetmaker soon obtained orders from the king. His best achievements are among the most luxurious furniture in the sumptuous Louis XV reign and his position is similar as the position previously held by Latz.
His stamps are simply marked Joseph. His life, like that of Bernard (BVRB) is poorly documented, not because he was a foreigner but because the main role was played by the marchands-merciers.
The ébéniste of the time, whatever his talent, is a maker. The marchand-mercier provides him with the materials for luxurious veneers that will appeal to the king. Duvaux and later Poirier served as intermediaries between Joseph and the court.
A bureau plat made by Joseph in 1763, decorated with Sèvres porcelain plaques, has been sold € 6.9 million including premium by Artcurial on December 13, 2005.
Executed circa 1765, another flat desk also stamped by Joseph was also longer ago a highlight of the auction history: the price recorded by Me Couturier on December 10, 1963, FF 387K, was exceptional for that time. This sale enabled it to be one of the first masterpieces of the Riahi collection of French furniture from the eighteenth century.
Its elegantly undulating forms stand already ahead of the excesses of the Régence and early Louis XV styles. Its veneers in Japanese lacquer and tulipwood are among the most precious.
The Joseph bureau of the Riahi collection is back at auction on December 6 at Christie's in London. It is estimated £ 2M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, £ 1.7M including premium, is far below the lower estimate.
His stamps are simply marked Joseph. His life, like that of Bernard (BVRB) is poorly documented, not because he was a foreigner but because the main role was played by the marchands-merciers.
The ébéniste of the time, whatever his talent, is a maker. The marchand-mercier provides him with the materials for luxurious veneers that will appeal to the king. Duvaux and later Poirier served as intermediaries between Joseph and the court.
A bureau plat made by Joseph in 1763, decorated with Sèvres porcelain plaques, has been sold € 6.9 million including premium by Artcurial on December 13, 2005.
Executed circa 1765, another flat desk also stamped by Joseph was also longer ago a highlight of the auction history: the price recorded by Me Couturier on December 10, 1963, FF 387K, was exceptional for that time. This sale enabled it to be one of the first masterpieces of the Riahi collection of French furniture from the eighteenth century.
Its elegantly undulating forms stand already ahead of the excesses of the Régence and early Louis XV styles. Its veneers in Japanese lacquer and tulipwood are among the most precious.
The Joseph bureau of the Riahi collection is back at auction on December 6 at Christie's in London. It is estimated £ 2M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, £ 1.7M including premium, is far below the lower estimate.
1766 A Flat Desk with its Clock of Cartonnier
2015 SOLD for € 2.22M including premium
Philippe-Claude Montigny is a cabinetmaker at the end of the reign of Louis XV. Cousin of René Dubois, he is also an occasional collaborator to Etienne Levasseur who is at that time the skilled successor of Boulle. The large bureau plat in the style of Boulle naturally becomes one of his specialties.
All accessories are designed for writing: drawers and pull in the desk, black leathered top and the very tall serre papier now named cartonnier or filing cabinet which is surmounted by a clock.
The desks stamped by Montigny are rare. One of them is estimated € 2M for sale by Christie's in Paris on November 4, lot 510. It retained its matching cartonnier with its original clock as they were described in the inventory of the estate of a former intendant of Louis XVI in 1795. Two period écritoires are joined to complete the equipment.
The desk is adorned with a leafy garland in antiquisant style 'à la grecque' which was fashionable in the early 1760s. It certainly dates from the very beginning of the accession to the maîtrise by Montigny in 1766. The sets of furniture of this period in which desk, cabinet and clock were never separated are of extreme rarity.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
All accessories are designed for writing: drawers and pull in the desk, black leathered top and the very tall serre papier now named cartonnier or filing cabinet which is surmounted by a clock.
The desks stamped by Montigny are rare. One of them is estimated € 2M for sale by Christie's in Paris on November 4, lot 510. It retained its matching cartonnier with its original clock as they were described in the inventory of the estate of a former intendant of Louis XVI in 1795. Two period écritoires are joined to complete the equipment.
The desk is adorned with a leafy garland in antiquisant style 'à la grecque' which was fashionable in the early 1760s. It certainly dates from the very beginning of the accession to the maîtrise by Montigny in 1766. The sets of furniture of this period in which desk, cabinet and clock were never separated are of extreme rarity.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
1778 Royal commode by Jean-Henri Riesener for Louis XVI
1999 SOLD 7 M£ including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1775-1785 Artistic Marquetry for King Louis XVI
2008 SOLD 1.7 M£ including premium
A writing table stamped by Riesener comes at Sotheby's in London on July 8 (Lot 25). This small piece of furniture (77 cm high, with a top of 97 x 54 cm) is expensive: its very open estimate (1 to 2 million £) stirs attention.
Since the beginning of the year, we saw some French furniture difficult to sell or sadly unsold at far lower heights. Our table, however, has some qualities that allow it to expect a high price.
With its fine scenery of flowers inlaid in colored wood marquetry, decorated with bronze and high perched on his tapering legs, it belongs to a group of furniture for which it is known that Jean Henri Riesener realized them specifically for the king, between 1775 and 1785. It is therefore a true royal Louis XVI furniture, although this specimen was perhaps kept by Riesener for his personal use. As it is often the case, the interior fittings of the three drawers to make it a writing table are no longer in their original condition.
Leaving France after the revolution of 1848, this table was then entrusted to the care of the English aristocracy and was displayed in the most important collection of the history of European furniture, that of Mentmore Towers.
In the same sale will be presented the exceptional potpourri in Qianlong porcelain mounted in bronze during Louis XV reign that I previously discussed (Lot 64).
POST SALE COMMENT
At least again a great price for a French piece of furniture of the eighteenth century, but it is a price level that can only be reached by royal models:
£ 1.7 million charge included.
Since the beginning of the year, we saw some French furniture difficult to sell or sadly unsold at far lower heights. Our table, however, has some qualities that allow it to expect a high price.
With its fine scenery of flowers inlaid in colored wood marquetry, decorated with bronze and high perched on his tapering legs, it belongs to a group of furniture for which it is known that Jean Henri Riesener realized them specifically for the king, between 1775 and 1785. It is therefore a true royal Louis XVI furniture, although this specimen was perhaps kept by Riesener for his personal use. As it is often the case, the interior fittings of the three drawers to make it a writing table are no longer in their original condition.
Leaving France after the revolution of 1848, this table was then entrusted to the care of the English aristocracy and was displayed in the most important collection of the history of European furniture, that of Mentmore Towers.
In the same sale will be presented the exceptional potpourri in Qianlong porcelain mounted in bronze during Louis XV reign that I previously discussed (Lot 64).
POST SALE COMMENT
At least again a great price for a French piece of furniture of the eighteenth century, but it is a price level that can only be reached by royal models:
£ 1.7 million charge included.
1786 Pietra-dura Commode stamped by (widow) Carlin and Weisweiler
1999 SOLD for FF 46M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue (not illustrated).
1795 A Triumph for Louis XVI ... in 1882 !
2011 SOLD 6.9 M$ including premium
Keep quiet, my archives do not go back to 1882! The results below had been published in an old newspaper article (The Illustrated London News, No.2254-Vol. LXXXI, Saturday, July 15, 1882) available as an external link in English country house contents auctions in the Wikipedia.
The 12th Duke of Hamilton was not an art lover, and he had a urgent need for money. The sale of his collection in 2213 lots at Christie's in London was an event that experts still quote.
The portrait of Philip IV by Velazquez, acquired by the British government for 6000 guineas, was however not the highest result of the sale.
Indeed, a Louis XVI commode and secretaireI had been sold separately, and to two different clients, for a price quoted as "enormous,never before given for a piece of furniture" in the article, of 9450 pounds each. Mounted in gilt bronze by Gouthière, these two ebony furniture lacquered in black and gold are bearing the monogram of Marie-Antoinette.
The sale of the Safra collection will last four days, from October 18 to 21, at Sotheby's in New York. A pair of furniture is for sale in one lot estimated $ 5M.
This commode and its secrétaire en suite had been included in the Hamilton sale. Like the two royal furniture discussed above, they are from Louis XVI time, mounted in bronze and lacquered. They are attributed to Adam Weisweiler.
Here is the link to the lot in the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
French furniture has become difficult to sell, except, of course, those of the highest quality. This set of two pieces was sold $ 6.9 million including premium.
The estimated date given in the catalog is circa 1795, after the death of Louis XVI. It is possible that this set was intended to Tsar Paul I, but it has not been been delivered to him.
The 12th Duke of Hamilton was not an art lover, and he had a urgent need for money. The sale of his collection in 2213 lots at Christie's in London was an event that experts still quote.
The portrait of Philip IV by Velazquez, acquired by the British government for 6000 guineas, was however not the highest result of the sale.
Indeed, a Louis XVI commode and secretaireI had been sold separately, and to two different clients, for a price quoted as "enormous,never before given for a piece of furniture" in the article, of 9450 pounds each. Mounted in gilt bronze by Gouthière, these two ebony furniture lacquered in black and gold are bearing the monogram of Marie-Antoinette.
The sale of the Safra collection will last four days, from October 18 to 21, at Sotheby's in New York. A pair of furniture is for sale in one lot estimated $ 5M.
This commode and its secrétaire en suite had been included in the Hamilton sale. Like the two royal furniture discussed above, they are from Louis XVI time, mounted in bronze and lacquered. They are attributed to Adam Weisweiler.
Here is the link to the lot in the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
French furniture has become difficult to sell, except, of course, those of the highest quality. This set of two pieces was sold $ 6.9 million including premium.
The estimated date given in the catalog is circa 1795, after the death of Louis XVI. It is possible that this set was intended to Tsar Paul I, but it has not been been delivered to him.
