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PROPERTY FROM THE WILLIAM S. PALEY COLLECTION
(LOTS 1233-1240)
'He is to American broadcasting as Carnegie was to steel, Ford to automobiles, Luce to publishing, and Ruth to baseball,' wrote The New York Times of William S. Paley, television's greatest tycoon. From a handful of radio stations he built CBS, the 'Tiffany Network' of Murrow and Cronkite, Lucille Ball and Jack Benny, and introduced shows that left a mark on American life. With his wife, Babe, who defined glamour for three decades, and with the help of such legendary decorators as Stéphane Boudin, Billy Baldwin and Sister Parish and Albert Hadley, among others, they created some of the most dazzling interiors of the second half of the 20th century.
Furniture and works of art from the Paley Collection will be sold in both of the Important English and European Furniture sales on 14 and 21 October. Paintings and sculpture from the Collection will be sold in the November and December Impressionist, Post-War and Contemporary and American Paintings and Antiquities sales.
The Paley's Fifth Avenue duplex and both country houses, Manhasset and later Southampton, Long Island, included an eclectic mix of serious paintings and whimsical decorative objects, Western and Asian all combined with both understatement and bold colours and textures. Befitting a center for the most glamorous gatherings, the New York apartment was cosmopolitan and yet comfortable. The walls of the Salon, severe, pared down Louis-XVI style panelling based on a room in the Hôtel Carnavalet in Paris, were painted a vivid high-gloss yellow.
Originally a theatre, the Southampton home, Four Fountains, had been converted in 1942 by Archibald and Eleanor Brown of the McMillen decorating firm. For Mr. Paley, Sister Parish decorated the vast rooms as an elegant but informal gathering place. These eclectic interiors displayed many fine pieces of English and French furniture all with a great sense of style, luxury and even humour. Further property from the Paley Collection will be offered in The English Furniture sale on October 14th which will include a large, varied and delightful group of Georgian, Regency and Victorian furniture, together with Russian, Italian, Anglo-Indian and Chinese pieces. The Régence mirror and the impressive late Louis XV ebony and scarlet-lacquer commode; together with a small group of important Meissen and French porcelain, will be included in the European Furniture sale.
A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND SCARLET AND GILT-LACQUER COMMODE
BASICALLY 1765-70 AND ALTERED, POSSIBLY FROM A LARGER PIECE OF FURNITURE WITH CONSEQUENTIAL REMOUNTING AND REVENEERING
Details
A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND SCARLET AND GILT-LACQUER COMMODE
BASICALLY 1765-70 AND ALTERED, POSSIBLY FROM A LARGER PIECE OF FURNITURE WITH CONSEQUENTIAL REMOUNTING AND REVENEERING
The shaped white marble top above a pair of cabinet doors opening to an interior fitted with two short and two long drawers, flanked by fluted pilasters, the sides similarly decorated with scarlet-lacquer panels, on scrolled acanthus ormolu feet, the lacquer panels with probably 18th century brown ink inscriptions labeled from right to left A (presumably, as the far right panel was not able to be removed), B, C and D.
36 in. (92 cm.) high, 59 in. (150 cm.) wide, 24¾ in. (63 cm.) deep
BASICALLY 1765-70 AND ALTERED, POSSIBLY FROM A LARGER PIECE OF FURNITURE WITH CONSEQUENTIAL REMOUNTING AND REVENEERING
The shaped white marble top above a pair of cabinet doors opening to an interior fitted with two short and two long drawers, flanked by fluted pilasters, the sides similarly decorated with scarlet-lacquer panels, on scrolled acanthus ormolu feet, the lacquer panels with probably 18th century brown ink inscriptions labeled from right to left A (presumably, as the far right panel was not able to be removed), B, C and D.
36 in. (92 cm.) high, 59 in. (150 cm.) wide, 24¾ in. (63 cm.) deep
Sale room notice
Please not the correct cataloguing for this lot should read:
A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND SCARLET AND GILT-LACQUER COMMODE CIRCA 1765-1770
This commode belongs to a suite of furniture, all with white marble tops, including a pair of encoignures in the chateau de Versailles (illustrated in P. Arizzoli-Clementel, Versailles Furniture of the Royal Palace, Dijon, 2002, pp. 78-9), a gift from the Duchess of Windsor, and a commode sold from the collection of Claude Cartier, Sotheby's Monaco, 25 November 1979, lot 155. The suite has been attributed to BVRB III, the son of the celebrated Louis XV cabinet-maker Bernard II Van Risenburgh.
A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND SCARLET AND GILT-LACQUER COMMODE CIRCA 1765-1770
This commode belongs to a suite of furniture, all with white marble tops, including a pair of encoignures in the chateau de Versailles (illustrated in P. Arizzoli-Clementel, Versailles Furniture of the Royal Palace, Dijon, 2002, pp. 78-9), a gift from the Duchess of Windsor, and a commode sold from the collection of Claude Cartier, Sotheby's Monaco, 25 November 1979, lot 155. The suite has been attributed to BVRB III, the son of the celebrated Louis XV cabinet-maker Bernard II Van Risenburgh.