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Lot Essay
With its jewel-like ormolu mounts and superb Oriental lacquer, this exquisite bureau reveals the creative genius of the ébéniste Jean-Pierre Latz (1691-1754). It is of a model unusual to this ébéniste and relates more closely to the work of Jacques Dubois (1694-1763). Interestingly, several of the mounts on this piece, including the pierced angles, the trailing legs, and the star-patterned corners of the fall-front are typical features on bureaux by Dubois, suggesting that both ébénistes may have collaborated in this instance. Identical mounts can be seen on three bureaux attributed to Dubois, illustrated in T. Wolvesperges, Le Meuble Français En Laque Au XVIII Siecle, Paris, 2000, pp. 286, 287. Additional bureaux with these mounts were sold Tajan, Paris, 23 February 1978, lot 108; and Christie's, London, 6 July 2006, lot 109. Another ormolu-mounted and lacquer bureaux attributed to Latz and the maker Adrien Delorme was sold Christie's, Paris, 30 September 2003, lot 398.
Latz's marriage to the daughter of a wealthy landowner, after his move from Cologne to Paris in 1719, launched him into the privileged ranks
of Parisian society enabling him to subsequently obtain the prestigious warrant of ébéniste privilegie du roi. Working rigidly and
exclusively in the Louis XV style, Latz's furniture was extremely well received both in France and abroad. Royal commissions included
furniture purchases by the King of Prussia, Frederick II; the Elector
of Saxony, August III (also King of Poland); and Madame Infante, the
daughter of Louis XV.
Latz's marriage to the daughter of a wealthy landowner, after his move from Cologne to Paris in 1719, launched him into the privileged ranks
of Parisian society enabling him to subsequently obtain the prestigious warrant of ébéniste privilegie du roi. Working rigidly and
exclusively in the Louis XV style, Latz's furniture was extremely well received both in France and abroad. Royal commissions included
furniture purchases by the King of Prussia, Frederick II; the Elector
of Saxony, August III (also King of Poland); and Madame Infante, the
daughter of Louis XV.