BY JOSEPH FUERSTEIN, CIRCA 1750

Details

A LOUIS XV KINGWOOD AND TULIPWOOD DOUBLE-SIDED SECRETAIRE A ABBATANT
BY JOSEPH FUERSTEIN, CIRCA 1750
With later rounded rectangular breccia marble top above two spreading frieze drawers and a fall-front to each side, enclosing six drawers in three tiers and twelve compartments, the lower part with two short drawers with central locking system and two long drawers to each side, on cabriole legs and foliate sabots, stamped twice 'FEURSTEIN' and 'JME'
54 ½ in. (138.5 cm.) high; 38 ½ in. (98 cm.) wide; 18 in. (46 cm.) deep

Provenance

W.J.R. Dreesmann; Frederik Muller & Cie. , Amsterdam, 22 March 1960, lot 449 (to Dreesmann).
Dr. Anton Dreesman Collection; Christie's, London, 10 April 2002, lot 241.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Lot Essay

Joseph Feuerstein, maître in 1767.

This secretaire has the unusual feature of two fall-fronts, each enclosing a fitted interior, and was probably conceived to be placed in the middle of a room, or with one of the sides against a wall. While double-sided secretaires of this type are virtually unknown, we do know a small number of bureaux à double faces. The most celebrated example of this type is undoubtedly the magnificent bureau by BVRB from the collections of fermier général François Balthazar Dangé and subsequently the Dukes of Argyll, which is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum (C. Bremer-David, Decorative Arts: An Illustrated Summary of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993, p. 36, fig. 41).

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