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Lot Essay
Martin Carlin, maître in 1766.
Embellished with a bold and large-scale parquetry pattern inspired by Japanese lacquer and sculptural mounts, this monumental commode is an innovative example of the early work of Martin Carlin in the goût grec. Together with its near pair supplied by the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier (formerly in the collections of the Earls of Mansfield at Scone Palace), this superb commode demonstrates Carlin's talent for producing luxurious parquetry furniture in a masculine 'Antique' style immediately after gaining his maîtrise in 1766.
THE EARLIEST GOÛT GREC FURNITURE
Around 1754-1756, the first experimental items of furniture in this style were conceived and produced, notably the great bureau plat made for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, probably by Joseph Baumhauer (d. 1772) and Philippe Caffiéri (1714-1774) to the designs of Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain (1714-1759), which is now at the Musée Condé at Chantilly (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 85-89). This extremely monumental piece is veneered in ebony and richly mounted in gilt bronze, turning it into a showpiece of the new style with the presence of a manifesto; its monumental size and the materials used also hark back to the Grand Siècle, the age of Louis XIV that was an inspiration to many early neo-classical artists and critics.
Within a few years, this bold manner had gained wide popularity, and in 1763 Baron de Grimm was writing in Paris: 'tout se fait aujourd'hui à la grecque' (ibid., p. 264). In the field of furniture, too, the style had spread outside the sphere of a rarefied group of avant-garde patrons and collectors. One of the earliest recorded examples of goût grec furniture produced in lighter woods and on a less monumental scale, concerns the purchase in the years 1763-1765 by George William, 6th Earl of Coventry, of a number of items from the famous marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier. Amongst them, in 1763 Coventry acquired a commode by Roger Vandercruse, dit Lacroix (RVLC), which is a superb example of this lighter and elegant but still early neo-classical furniture style (sold Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 264).
GOÛT GREC FURNITURE BY MARTIN CARLIN
Born in the German principality of Baden circa 1730, it is unclear when Carlin arrived in Paris and where he commenced his activities as a cabinet-maker. In 1759, he married the sister of Jean-François Oeben and it has been, therefore, generally accepted that he trained in his brother-in-law's workshop. Carlin is listed among Oeben's creditors on the latter's death, emphasising their professional link but also underlining Oeben's inspirational effect on Carlin (A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français, Paris, 1989, p. 343).
The present commode is almost identical (though with drawers rather than doors enclosing drawers to the front) to that previously in the collection of the Earls of Mansfield at Scone Palace, Scotland, which was sold at Sotheby's, London, 8 December 1967, lot 142; was subsequently in the Georges Wildenstein Collection in New York; then the collection of Akram Ojjeh, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 50; and finally the collection of Sir Charles Clore, sold Christie's Monaco, 6 December 1985, lot 54, where it was bought by Partridge (see Partridge Summer Exhibition, London, 1987, no. 53). Together they are part of a small group of similarly-decorated furniture executed by Martin Carlin at the beginning of his career, including a secretaire from the collection of Mrs Richard Wallace, sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 17 December 1949, lot 40 and a secretaire from the collection of the duc de Vendôme, sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 4 December 1931, lot 99. Characteristic of this group is the large scale parquetry pattern consisting of interlaced strapwork, trellis and flowerheads which appears to be unique to Carlin's oeuvre. Flanking the parquetry panels are sculptural herm figures, adding further drama to the façade. The friezes are generally inset with a more modest floral entrelac mount, a feature copied from Oeben's commodes à la grecque, which Carlin would use throughout his life.
This interesting and unusual group of furniture was clearly inspired by the earliest goût grec pieces but more particularly by the lighter variants executed in 1763-65, such as the Coventry commode mentioned above. The wider dissemination of the new style can be credited to various marchands-mercier but as one of the leading exponents of his trade, Poirier played a crucial role in the development of new furniture types and the coordination of their execution. Following the Coventry commode, he commissioned Carlin to execute the Mansfield commode which bears his signature 'Poirier Md. Rue St. Honore à Paris', as well as the present example, which is its closest comparable. The dating of these pieces has traditionally been associated with the presumed purchase date of the Mansfield commode. This was possibly acquired by the 7th Viscount Stormont (later 2nd Earl of Mansfield) who was Ambassador to Paris and Vienna between 1772 and 1778, during which time he made several important purchases of French furniture, some of which are still at Scone Palace (A. Coleridge, 'Furniture in the Collection of the Earls of Mansfield', The Connoisseur, 11 May 1966, p. 15, fig. 20). Whilst this is a probable theory, there are various indications that may suggest Carlin's commodes were in fact executed a few years earlier, predating Lord Mansfield's stay in Paris. The extremely bold character of these commodes, achieved through the unique large scale parquetry pattern and sculptural mounts, is very close to the original goût grec idiom, and would suggest an execution date closer to that of the Coventry commode. More importantly, a crucial clue is provided by the large sculptural gilt-bronze mounts to the angles and the apron, which were the most costly decorative addition to this type of commode and almost certainly provided by Poirier. Not only the draped classical figures to the angles but also the bearded mask mount appear in almost identical form on the marquetry secretaire by Jean-Henri Riesener from the Wernher collection, sold Christie's London, 5 July 2000, lot 73. Stamped both 'Oeben' and 'Riesener', this secretaire is among the items of furniture executed by Riesener in the Oeben workshop during 1763-68 (after the death of Oeben in 1763), completed around 1768, when he applied his own stamp after gaining his maîtrise and having married Oeben's widow. The herm-caryatid mounts appear on various other opulent items of furniture executed in the late 1760s by Riesener and his contemporaries and also feature on four of the eight secretaires of the Wernher model, which was continued by Riesener until 1780. This includes the secretaire of circa 1770-75 from the collection of Consul General Bergsten, sold Christie's, London, 23 June 1999, lot 134; the example of circa 1770-75 from the collection of François Guerault, sold Paris, 21-22 March 1935, lot 94; and finally one supplied to Louis XVI's cabinet at the Petit Trianon in 1777 and now at Waddesdon Manor, which is illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, London, 1974, vol. I, pp. 348-357, no. 69. The mounts firmly place the dates of the Mansfield and Riahi commodes by Carlin to this period.
Embellished with a bold and large-scale parquetry pattern inspired by Japanese lacquer and sculptural mounts, this monumental commode is an innovative example of the early work of Martin Carlin in the goût grec. Together with its near pair supplied by the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier (formerly in the collections of the Earls of Mansfield at Scone Palace), this superb commode demonstrates Carlin's talent for producing luxurious parquetry furniture in a masculine 'Antique' style immediately after gaining his maîtrise in 1766.
THE EARLIEST GOÛT GREC FURNITURE
Around 1754-1756, the first experimental items of furniture in this style were conceived and produced, notably the great bureau plat made for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, probably by Joseph Baumhauer (d. 1772) and Philippe Caffiéri (1714-1774) to the designs of Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain (1714-1759), which is now at the Musée Condé at Chantilly (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 85-89). This extremely monumental piece is veneered in ebony and richly mounted in gilt bronze, turning it into a showpiece of the new style with the presence of a manifesto; its monumental size and the materials used also hark back to the Grand Siècle, the age of Louis XIV that was an inspiration to many early neo-classical artists and critics.
Within a few years, this bold manner had gained wide popularity, and in 1763 Baron de Grimm was writing in Paris: 'tout se fait aujourd'hui à la grecque' (ibid., p. 264). In the field of furniture, too, the style had spread outside the sphere of a rarefied group of avant-garde patrons and collectors. One of the earliest recorded examples of goût grec furniture produced in lighter woods and on a less monumental scale, concerns the purchase in the years 1763-1765 by George William, 6th Earl of Coventry, of a number of items from the famous marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier. Amongst them, in 1763 Coventry acquired a commode by Roger Vandercruse, dit Lacroix (RVLC), which is a superb example of this lighter and elegant but still early neo-classical furniture style (sold Christie's New York, 2 November 2000, lot 264).
GOÛT GREC FURNITURE BY MARTIN CARLIN
Born in the German principality of Baden circa 1730, it is unclear when Carlin arrived in Paris and where he commenced his activities as a cabinet-maker. In 1759, he married the sister of Jean-François Oeben and it has been, therefore, generally accepted that he trained in his brother-in-law's workshop. Carlin is listed among Oeben's creditors on the latter's death, emphasising their professional link but also underlining Oeben's inspirational effect on Carlin (A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français, Paris, 1989, p. 343).
The present commode is almost identical (though with drawers rather than doors enclosing drawers to the front) to that previously in the collection of the Earls of Mansfield at Scone Palace, Scotland, which was sold at Sotheby's, London, 8 December 1967, lot 142; was subsequently in the Georges Wildenstein Collection in New York; then the collection of Akram Ojjeh, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 50; and finally the collection of Sir Charles Clore, sold Christie's Monaco, 6 December 1985, lot 54, where it was bought by Partridge (see Partridge Summer Exhibition, London, 1987, no. 53). Together they are part of a small group of similarly-decorated furniture executed by Martin Carlin at the beginning of his career, including a secretaire from the collection of Mrs Richard Wallace, sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 17 December 1949, lot 40 and a secretaire from the collection of the duc de Vendôme, sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 4 December 1931, lot 99. Characteristic of this group is the large scale parquetry pattern consisting of interlaced strapwork, trellis and flowerheads which appears to be unique to Carlin's oeuvre. Flanking the parquetry panels are sculptural herm figures, adding further drama to the façade. The friezes are generally inset with a more modest floral entrelac mount, a feature copied from Oeben's commodes à la grecque, which Carlin would use throughout his life.
This interesting and unusual group of furniture was clearly inspired by the earliest goût grec pieces but more particularly by the lighter variants executed in 1763-65, such as the Coventry commode mentioned above. The wider dissemination of the new style can be credited to various marchands-mercier but as one of the leading exponents of his trade, Poirier played a crucial role in the development of new furniture types and the coordination of their execution. Following the Coventry commode, he commissioned Carlin to execute the Mansfield commode which bears his signature 'Poirier Md. Rue St. Honore à Paris', as well as the present example, which is its closest comparable. The dating of these pieces has traditionally been associated with the presumed purchase date of the Mansfield commode. This was possibly acquired by the 7th Viscount Stormont (later 2nd Earl of Mansfield) who was Ambassador to Paris and Vienna between 1772 and 1778, during which time he made several important purchases of French furniture, some of which are still at Scone Palace (A. Coleridge, 'Furniture in the Collection of the Earls of Mansfield', The Connoisseur, 11 May 1966, p. 15, fig. 20). Whilst this is a probable theory, there are various indications that may suggest Carlin's commodes were in fact executed a few years earlier, predating Lord Mansfield's stay in Paris. The extremely bold character of these commodes, achieved through the unique large scale parquetry pattern and sculptural mounts, is very close to the original goût grec idiom, and would suggest an execution date closer to that of the Coventry commode. More importantly, a crucial clue is provided by the large sculptural gilt-bronze mounts to the angles and the apron, which were the most costly decorative addition to this type of commode and almost certainly provided by Poirier. Not only the draped classical figures to the angles but also the bearded mask mount appear in almost identical form on the marquetry secretaire by Jean-Henri Riesener from the Wernher collection, sold Christie's London, 5 July 2000, lot 73. Stamped both 'Oeben' and 'Riesener', this secretaire is among the items of furniture executed by Riesener in the Oeben workshop during 1763-68 (after the death of Oeben in 1763), completed around 1768, when he applied his own stamp after gaining his maîtrise and having married Oeben's widow. The herm-caryatid mounts appear on various other opulent items of furniture executed in the late 1760s by Riesener and his contemporaries and also feature on four of the eight secretaires of the Wernher model, which was continued by Riesener until 1780. This includes the secretaire of circa 1770-75 from the collection of Consul General Bergsten, sold Christie's, London, 23 June 1999, lot 134; the example of circa 1770-75 from the collection of François Guerault, sold Paris, 21-22 March 1935, lot 94; and finally one supplied to Louis XVI's cabinet at the Petit Trianon in 1777 and now at Waddesdon Manor, which is illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, London, 1974, vol. I, pp. 348-357, no. 69. The mounts firmly place the dates of the Mansfield and Riahi commodes by Carlin to this period.