Lot Essay
This type of bonheur-du-jour was one of the most enduringly popular designs of Charles Topino (maître in 1773). It is a design in which he seems to have had a monopoly. The chinoiserie still-lives of domestic objects are derived from coromandel lacquer screens and they seem to have been particularly popular between 1770 and 1775. An example of this model in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, is illustrated in Connaissance des Arts, Les Ebénistes de XVIIIe Siècle Franis, Paris, 1963, p. 269, fig. 2)
Topino produced these marquetry panels in some quantity; a bonheur-du-jour of this model illustrated in C. Packer, Paris Furniture, Newport (Wales), 1956, fig. 76, is identical to the present lot in every respect except that the main door panels are placed in opposite positions. The illustrated bonheur-du-jour was from the collection of Mrs Henry Walters and was sold Parke Bernet, New York, 26 April 1941, lot 687 (illustrated). It was sold again from the Garbische Collection, Sotheby's New York, 17 May 1980, lot 318
Topino produced these marquetry panels in some quantity; a bonheur-du-jour of this model illustrated in C. Packer, Paris Furniture, Newport (Wales), 1956, fig. 76, is identical to the present lot in every respect except that the main door panels are placed in opposite positions. The illustrated bonheur-du-jour was from the collection of Mrs Henry Walters and was sold Parke Bernet, New York, 26 April 1941, lot 687 (illustrated). It was sold again from the Garbische Collection, Sotheby's New York, 17 May 1980, lot 318