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Lot Essay
With its elaborate relief-carved decoration, fine and profuse engraving of foliate scrolls and flowerheads and architectural balustraded interior, this impressive cabinet is characteristic of the first half 17th Century Parisian cabinetmaking and most closely related to the oeuvre of Jean Macé and Pierre Gole, both arguably the most celebrated ébénistes of their time.
THE FIRST PARISIAN EBONY CABINETS
The first 'menuisiers en ébène' or ébénistes established themselves in the French capital around 1610-1620. Most of these craftsmen originally came from Southern or Northern Netherlands or from Germany, countries where the art of veneering furniture with exotic woods had already been practised for at least a generation. Amongst them they established an unmistakably Parisian type of cabinet - adorned with finely-worked ebony veneers throughout, the exterior typically devoid of tortoiseshell or other inlay - yet their work retains many traces of their foreign origins. Such cabinets were extremely fashionable throughout the 17th Century, remaining in favour for a surprisingly long period of time. While attempts have been made to distinguish particular groups amongst the recorded examples, thereby attempting to establish a chronology, many existing cabinets do not fit easily into any of the identified categories (D. Alcouffe, 'Il Rinascimento', in D. Alcouffe a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925, Milan 1981, pp. 10-25; D. Alcouffe, 'La naissance de l'ébénisterie: les cabinets d'ébéne', in exh. cat. Un temps d'exubérance, Les arts décoratifs sous Louis XIII et Anne d'Autriche, Paris (Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais) 2002, pp. 212-217 and cat. nos. 135-139 and 142).
JEAN MACÉ'S LEGACY
The fine and elaborate relief-carved panels on this cabinet are most closely related to the oeuvre of Jean Macé of Blois. Trained in Antwerp, Macé is credited with some of the most elaborately-worked 17th Century ebony cabinets, among which the celebrated 'Endymion Cabinet' in the Victoria & Albert Museum, which illustrates the story of Diana and Endymion after the prose romance by Jean Ogier de Gombauld published in 1624. While it has been suggested that Royal cabinetmaker Pierre Gole may have been at the source of such an exceptionally-crafted piece (P. Fuhring, Pierre Gole, ébéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, p. 77-8), most leading experts have linked the 'Endymion cabinet' to Macé (Ed. C. Payne, Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Furniture, 1994, pp. 46-47).
Along with Macé and Gole, other skilled craftsmen - such as Desjardins, Eyquemant, Ostermeyer, Kirchhoff, Boudrillet and Lemaire - were working in Paris at the time, ranking amongst the most renowned cabinetmakers of the capital. While the present cabinet has not been firmly attributed to a cabinet maker in particular, the overall arrangement and polygonal form of the door panels, profuse engraved floral decoration and the superb quality of execution all point to Macé as the most certain originator, as it relates most closely to the aforementioned 'Endymion Cabinet'.
MARCUS CURTIUS AND GAIUS MUCIUS
The scenes carved to the circular medallions centring the doors of the present cabinet portray the premise of willing sacrifice for the greater good. Both stories appear in the history of the Roman Republic as recounted by famed Roman historian Titus Livius (or Livy (59 BC - AD 17)). Cabinet makers drew their inspiration from engravings which they painstakingly reproduced in the form of carved or engraved decoration, the carved decoration to the panels on the present cabinet combining what is known as histoire profane with mythological themes.
The circular medallion centring the left door is after an engraving by Jean Mignon (fl. 1535-55), member of the Fontainebleau School, which was executed c. 1543-5 after a painting by Luca Penni (c. 1504-57). It depicts the tale of Roman soldier Marcus Curtius, who jumped into the chasm opened on the Roman Forum in 362, sacrificing - according to Livy - 'that what constituted the greatest strength of the Roman people' to ensure the survival of the Roman Empire.
The scene carved to the righthand side door shows the tale of Gaius Mucius, a young Roman of noble birth, who attempted to assassinate Etruscan King Lars Porsenna who had besieged Rome in the third year of the Roman republic, hoping to bring back its last king, Tarquin the Proud. Mucius's attempt failed but the latter's courage and steadfastness impressed the Etruscan king as he was brought before him. Porsenna released Mucius who later warned him of the impending 'assassination plot' by no less than 300 Romans against his person.
A recounting of the story of Gaius Mucius was put on the stage c. 1642-43 before being subsequently published in 1647 by the French dramatist Pierre Du Ryer (1606-58), a member of the Academie Française, here again allowing contemporary cabinet-makers to draw their inspiration from the scenes depicted therein.
RELATED CABINETS
In addition to the aforementioned 'Endymion cabinet' most commonly attributed to Macé, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the most closely related examples include cabinets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, a further cabinet attributed to Gole at Windsor Castle, and other related examples in the collections of the Marquis of Bath at Longleat and Duke and Duchess of Norfolk at Arundel. What is perhaps the most closely related example is at the Musée Rolin in Autun, Burgundy and is directly comparable to the present cabinet in both arrangement and carved decoration to the upper section especially, where similarly-shaped lobed panels depict a formidable rendition of The Four Seasons and the Classical Elements, suggesting that both cabinets would have most certainly originated from the same workshop (ill. in D. Alcouffe & G. de Bellaigue, Il Mobile francese dal rinascimento al Luigi XV, Milan, 1981, p.8).
THE FIRST PARISIAN EBONY CABINETS
The first 'menuisiers en ébène' or ébénistes established themselves in the French capital around 1610-1620. Most of these craftsmen originally came from Southern or Northern Netherlands or from Germany, countries where the art of veneering furniture with exotic woods had already been practised for at least a generation. Amongst them they established an unmistakably Parisian type of cabinet - adorned with finely-worked ebony veneers throughout, the exterior typically devoid of tortoiseshell or other inlay - yet their work retains many traces of their foreign origins. Such cabinets were extremely fashionable throughout the 17th Century, remaining in favour for a surprisingly long period of time. While attempts have been made to distinguish particular groups amongst the recorded examples, thereby attempting to establish a chronology, many existing cabinets do not fit easily into any of the identified categories (D. Alcouffe, 'Il Rinascimento', in D. Alcouffe a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925, Milan 1981, pp. 10-25; D. Alcouffe, 'La naissance de l'ébénisterie: les cabinets d'ébéne', in exh. cat. Un temps d'exubérance, Les arts décoratifs sous Louis XIII et Anne d'Autriche, Paris (Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais) 2002, pp. 212-217 and cat. nos. 135-139 and 142).
JEAN MACÉ'S LEGACY
The fine and elaborate relief-carved panels on this cabinet are most closely related to the oeuvre of Jean Macé of Blois. Trained in Antwerp, Macé is credited with some of the most elaborately-worked 17th Century ebony cabinets, among which the celebrated 'Endymion Cabinet' in the Victoria & Albert Museum, which illustrates the story of Diana and Endymion after the prose romance by Jean Ogier de Gombauld published in 1624. While it has been suggested that Royal cabinetmaker Pierre Gole may have been at the source of such an exceptionally-crafted piece (P. Fuhring, Pierre Gole, ébéniste de Louis XIV, Dijon, 2005, p. 77-8), most leading experts have linked the 'Endymion cabinet' to Macé (Ed. C. Payne, Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Furniture, 1994, pp. 46-47).
Along with Macé and Gole, other skilled craftsmen - such as Desjardins, Eyquemant, Ostermeyer, Kirchhoff, Boudrillet and Lemaire - were working in Paris at the time, ranking amongst the most renowned cabinetmakers of the capital. While the present cabinet has not been firmly attributed to a cabinet maker in particular, the overall arrangement and polygonal form of the door panels, profuse engraved floral decoration and the superb quality of execution all point to Macé as the most certain originator, as it relates most closely to the aforementioned 'Endymion Cabinet'.
MARCUS CURTIUS AND GAIUS MUCIUS
The scenes carved to the circular medallions centring the doors of the present cabinet portray the premise of willing sacrifice for the greater good. Both stories appear in the history of the Roman Republic as recounted by famed Roman historian Titus Livius (or Livy (59 BC - AD 17)). Cabinet makers drew their inspiration from engravings which they painstakingly reproduced in the form of carved or engraved decoration, the carved decoration to the panels on the present cabinet combining what is known as histoire profane with mythological themes.
The circular medallion centring the left door is after an engraving by Jean Mignon (fl. 1535-55), member of the Fontainebleau School, which was executed c. 1543-5 after a painting by Luca Penni (c. 1504-57). It depicts the tale of Roman soldier Marcus Curtius, who jumped into the chasm opened on the Roman Forum in 362, sacrificing - according to Livy - 'that what constituted the greatest strength of the Roman people' to ensure the survival of the Roman Empire.
The scene carved to the righthand side door shows the tale of Gaius Mucius, a young Roman of noble birth, who attempted to assassinate Etruscan King Lars Porsenna who had besieged Rome in the third year of the Roman republic, hoping to bring back its last king, Tarquin the Proud. Mucius's attempt failed but the latter's courage and steadfastness impressed the Etruscan king as he was brought before him. Porsenna released Mucius who later warned him of the impending 'assassination plot' by no less than 300 Romans against his person.
A recounting of the story of Gaius Mucius was put on the stage c. 1642-43 before being subsequently published in 1647 by the French dramatist Pierre Du Ryer (1606-58), a member of the Academie Française, here again allowing contemporary cabinet-makers to draw their inspiration from the scenes depicted therein.
RELATED CABINETS
In addition to the aforementioned 'Endymion cabinet' most commonly attributed to Macé, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the most closely related examples include cabinets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, a further cabinet attributed to Gole at Windsor Castle, and other related examples in the collections of the Marquis of Bath at Longleat and Duke and Duchess of Norfolk at Arundel. What is perhaps the most closely related example is at the Musée Rolin in Autun, Burgundy and is directly comparable to the present cabinet in both arrangement and carved decoration to the upper section especially, where similarly-shaped lobed panels depict a formidable rendition of The Four Seasons and the Classical Elements, suggesting that both cabinets would have most certainly originated from the same workshop (ill. in D. Alcouffe & G. de Bellaigue, Il Mobile francese dal rinascimento al Luigi XV, Milan, 1981, p.8).