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Lot Essay
PHILIPPE CLAUDE MONTIGNY
This magnificent secretaire with its architectural profile and bold Gout Grec mounts can be securely attributed to the distinguished ébéniste Philippe Claude Montigny (1734-1800). Acknowledged in his day as a specialist in the restoration and production of Boulle marquetry furniture, he was clearly influenced by the earlier master throughout his work. This inspiration is demonstrated by the robust scrolled mounts that adorn the angles of this secretaire, which are almost directly drawn from angle mounts by Boulle, seen frequently within his oeuvre, such as the series of bibliothèque basses of which six are in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tenenbam and A. Levébure, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, nos. 28 and 29, pp. 98-100). Furthermore, the figural female mount is thought to be inspired by a similar mount on a clock by Cressent (A. Pradére, op.cit., p. 305.)
SECRETAIRES OF THIS MODEL
There are three other known examples of this model of secretaire, with very slight variation:
1. A virtually identical example is in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
2. A secretaire of identical design to this example, sold at Drouot, Paris, in 1983.
3. Another unstamped example, from the collection of Edouard Chappey, sold 27-31 May, 1907, no. 1 454.
JACQUELINE DELUBAC
Born in Lyon in 1907, Jacqueline Delubac began a successful acting career in Valence and travelled to Paris where she met her first husband, Sacha Guitry, the celebrated French actor, director and "master of irony". Despite their twenty-five year age difference, the pair went on to make together roughly ten of the twenty-five films which constituted her career. Stylish and charming, Jacqueline and her second husband, Myran Eknayan, formed a highly distinguished collection of modern pictures, including works by Bacon, Léger, Manet, Picasso, Renoir and others. After her death in 1997, the Musée des Beaux Arts de Lyon dedicated galleries in both her name and in her husband's. Jacqueline's refined but eclectic tastes were evident not only in her collections of fine art and furniture, but equally in her wardrobe, which is currently preserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. From her provincial origins, Jacqueline Delubac became a remarkable, fashionable and elegant figure of Parisian society.
This magnificent secretaire with its architectural profile and bold Gout Grec mounts can be securely attributed to the distinguished ébéniste Philippe Claude Montigny (1734-1800). Acknowledged in his day as a specialist in the restoration and production of Boulle marquetry furniture, he was clearly influenced by the earlier master throughout his work. This inspiration is demonstrated by the robust scrolled mounts that adorn the angles of this secretaire, which are almost directly drawn from angle mounts by Boulle, seen frequently within his oeuvre, such as the series of bibliothèque basses of which six are in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tenenbam and A. Levébure, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, nos. 28 and 29, pp. 98-100). Furthermore, the figural female mount is thought to be inspired by a similar mount on a clock by Cressent (A. Pradére, op.cit., p. 305.)
SECRETAIRES OF THIS MODEL
There are three other known examples of this model of secretaire, with very slight variation:
1. A virtually identical example is in the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
2. A secretaire of identical design to this example, sold at Drouot, Paris, in 1983.
3. Another unstamped example, from the collection of Edouard Chappey, sold 27-31 May, 1907, no. 1 454.
JACQUELINE DELUBAC
Born in Lyon in 1907, Jacqueline Delubac began a successful acting career in Valence and travelled to Paris where she met her first husband, Sacha Guitry, the celebrated French actor, director and "master of irony". Despite their twenty-five year age difference, the pair went on to make together roughly ten of the twenty-five films which constituted her career. Stylish and charming, Jacqueline and her second husband, Myran Eknayan, formed a highly distinguished collection of modern pictures, including works by Bacon, Léger, Manet, Picasso, Renoir and others. After her death in 1997, the Musée des Beaux Arts de Lyon dedicated galleries in both her name and in her husband's. Jacqueline's refined but eclectic tastes were evident not only in her collections of fine art and furniture, but equally in her wardrobe, which is currently preserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. From her provincial origins, Jacqueline Delubac became a remarkable, fashionable and elegant figure of Parisian society.