Lot Essay
Joseph Baumhauer, called Joseph, ébéniste privilegié du Roi by 1767, died 1772.
This secrétaire is characteristic of the oeuvre of Joseph Baumhauer. Several other small similarly-mounted secrétaires à abattant stamped by this ébéniste are known, such as one sold at Hotel Drouot, maître Demorme, 7 May 1982 and a further example sold at Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 25 June 1969. A further secrétaire from the Barclay Field Collection was sold in these Rooms, 12 June 1893, lot 83. A secrétaire, which appears to be the pair to this lot, was possibly in the collection of the Earl of Chesterfield in the Music Room at Chesterfield House, London. It was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 24 March 1949, lot 73.
The angle mounts are the same as those on a writing-desk from the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy, sold Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 84. This piece was supplied to comte de Cobenzl, an important Austrian diplomat, by Lazare Duvaux on 9 August 1758. Of the approximately twenty similar secrétaires in the accounts of Lazare Duvaux which were delivered between 1754 and 1758, he lists on 15 December 1754 one delivered to Madame Rouillé as un secrétaire en armoire à coffre fort, plaqué en bois de rose avec ornemens dorés d'or moulu et marbre brèche d'Alep, 288 livres and in the following year, in December 1755, Madame de la Bauve bought from him un secrétaire plaqué en bois de rose à fleurs, garny de bronze doré d'or moulu 490 livres.
This secrétaire is characteristic of the oeuvre of Joseph Baumhauer. Several other small similarly-mounted secrétaires à abattant stamped by this ébéniste are known, such as one sold at Hotel Drouot, maître Demorme, 7 May 1982 and a further example sold at Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 25 June 1969. A further secrétaire from the Barclay Field Collection was sold in these Rooms, 12 June 1893, lot 83. A secrétaire, which appears to be the pair to this lot, was possibly in the collection of the Earl of Chesterfield in the Music Room at Chesterfield House, London. It was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 24 March 1949, lot 73.
The angle mounts are the same as those on a writing-desk from the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy, sold Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 84. This piece was supplied to comte de Cobenzl, an important Austrian diplomat, by Lazare Duvaux on 9 August 1758. Of the approximately twenty similar secrétaires in the accounts of Lazare Duvaux which were delivered between 1754 and 1758, he lists on 15 December 1754 one delivered to Madame Rouillé as un secrétaire en armoire à coffre fort, plaqué en bois de rose avec ornemens dorés d'or moulu et marbre brèche d'Alep, 288 livres and in the following year, in December 1755, Madame de la Bauve bought from him un secrétaire plaqué en bois de rose à fleurs, garny de bronze doré d'or moulu 490 livres.