Lot Essay
The admiration of nature and the desire to keep plants and flowers inside became more fashionable amongst a larger part of the French elite in the early 19th Century. Whilst jardinières - small tables with a liner in a deep frieze - were made in the second half of the 18th Century, for instance by Adam Weisweiler in beautifully-figured mahogany, more examples were executed from the Empire period onwards. The lower part of the present example - the shaft and particularly the base - is very closely related to a gueridon stamped by Maigret, which was sold by the Lord Barnard, Raby Castle, Christie's house sale, 10-11 October 1994, lot 127.
Percier and Fontaine's 'Receuil de Décoration Intérieurs' published in Paris in 1801-2, included designs for jardinières or table à fleurs comparable to the present example, and these were executed with differences in the basic form and ormolu enrichments. Queen Hortense had an oval jardinière in her boudoir in the rue Cerutti, where she lived between 1810 and 1814, which is depicted in a watercolour by A. Garnerey and now at Malmaison (L. de Groër, Les Arts Daecoratifs de 1790 à 1850, p. 39, fig. 56).
Percier and Fontaine's 'Receuil de Décoration Intérieurs' published in Paris in 1801-2, included designs for jardinières or table à fleurs comparable to the present example, and these were executed with differences in the basic form and ormolu enrichments. Queen Hortense had an oval jardinière in her boudoir in the rue Cerutti, where she lived between 1810 and 1814, which is depicted in a watercolour by A. Garnerey and now at Malmaison (L. de Groër, Les Arts Daecoratifs de 1790 à 1850, p. 39, fig. 56).