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Lot Essay
These elegant bibliothèques were most certainly executed by Pierre-Etienne Levasseur or his son Pierre-Francois Henri Levasseur, circa 1815, and are based on a model by André-Charles Boulle (d.1732), establishing the general tripartite form of low cabinet and featuring an oval bas-relief (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture vol. II, London 1996, p.580). As Peter Hughes explains, the 1727 will of the goldsmith Nicolas Delaunay, a friend and client of Boulle, lists two tripartite cabinets most certainly executed by Boulle: ‘deux cabinets de bois d'ébène à trois guichets, ceux des côtés garnis de fils de laiton, celui du milieu de marqueterie d'écaille et cuivre orné de masques et d'un bas-relief, chacun de forme ovale et généralement comportant des moulures, filets et entrées, 600 l...’ (Ibid).
The present bibliothèques derive more specifically from a late 18th Century model commissioned by the marchand-mercier Julliot from Levasseur père circa 1775, as one such pair first appeared in the sale of Julliot’s stock in 1777. The same bibliothèques featured in the 1784 sale of the Baron de Saint-Julien, and in the 1787 sale of the Comte de Vaudreuil (ill. A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 313, fig. 354). This model of bibliothèque basse further relates to a pair executed by Etienne Levasseur père circa 1775, featuring virtually identical medallions depicting the Abduction of Helen by Priam and the Rape of the Sabine women, now in the Wallace Collection (Hughes, op.cit., pp.578-85), whilst a further related example by the celebrated ébéniste was famously acquired by the 1st Duke of Wellington through the painter-dealer Chevalier Féréol Bonnemaison, circa 1817, for his newly acquired country seat at Stratfield Saye, Hampshire (M. Aldrich, 'A Setting for Boulle Furniture: The Duke of Wellington's Gallery at Stratfield Saye', Apollo, June 1998, pp. 20-22).
The idiosyncratic frieze mount to the sides of the present bibliothèques - which features alternating pierced foliage and acanthus leaves - appears on a large bookcase executed by Levasseur circa 1770, also in the Wallace Collection (ill. Pradere, op.cit, p. 311). The same signature frieze is found on a pair of bookcases stamped Levasseur and formerly in the collection of the Marquess of Londonderry, and on a smaller cabinet, from a set of four, stamped Levasseur and executed circa 1790-95, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 7 May 1983, lot 212 (Ibid., p.309).
THE LEVASSEUR DYNASTY
One of the foremost ébénistes of Louis XVI’s reign, Etienne Levasseur (maître in 1767) learned his craft with the sons of André-Charles Boulle, probably from A-C. Boulle the younger (1685-1745) or Charles-Joseph Boulle (d. 1754). Amongst his most celebrated patrons were Louis XV's daughters, Mesdames Adelaîde and Victoire for their château de Bellevue, and important collectors such as the fermier général Mulot de Pressigny. Levasseur père specialised in copying and repairing Boulle furniture and, like fellow ébénistes Montigny, Joseph Baumhauer, Jean-Louis Faizelot-Delorme and Weisweiler, worked extensively with the then principal marchand-mercier for Boulle furniture Claude-François Julliot. Levasseur père does not appear to have continued working after the Revolution.
His son and grandson followed in his footsteps, both continuing to use his stamp and specialising in Boulle marquetry furniture well into the 1820s. His son Pierre-Etienne was not made a maître, probably because of the Revolution and married a daughter of Roger van der Cruse (‘RVLC’) dit Lacroix. His own son Pierre-François-Henri, known as ‘Levasseur Jeune’, succeeded him in 1823 and, according to an advertisement placed in the Bazar Parisien in 1822, described himself as perhaps the only ébéniste making and repairing Boulle furniture in Paris, 'furniture seldom seen but avidly sought by collectors and dealers' (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p.316).
The present bibliothèques derive more specifically from a late 18th Century model commissioned by the marchand-mercier Julliot from Levasseur père circa 1775, as one such pair first appeared in the sale of Julliot’s stock in 1777. The same bibliothèques featured in the 1784 sale of the Baron de Saint-Julien, and in the 1787 sale of the Comte de Vaudreuil (ill. A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 313, fig. 354). This model of bibliothèque basse further relates to a pair executed by Etienne Levasseur père circa 1775, featuring virtually identical medallions depicting the Abduction of Helen by Priam and the Rape of the Sabine women, now in the Wallace Collection (Hughes, op.cit., pp.578-85), whilst a further related example by the celebrated ébéniste was famously acquired by the 1st Duke of Wellington through the painter-dealer Chevalier Féréol Bonnemaison, circa 1817, for his newly acquired country seat at Stratfield Saye, Hampshire (M. Aldrich, 'A Setting for Boulle Furniture: The Duke of Wellington's Gallery at Stratfield Saye', Apollo, June 1998, pp. 20-22).
The idiosyncratic frieze mount to the sides of the present bibliothèques - which features alternating pierced foliage and acanthus leaves - appears on a large bookcase executed by Levasseur circa 1770, also in the Wallace Collection (ill. Pradere, op.cit, p. 311). The same signature frieze is found on a pair of bookcases stamped Levasseur and formerly in the collection of the Marquess of Londonderry, and on a smaller cabinet, from a set of four, stamped Levasseur and executed circa 1790-95, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 7 May 1983, lot 212 (Ibid., p.309).
THE LEVASSEUR DYNASTY
One of the foremost ébénistes of Louis XVI’s reign, Etienne Levasseur (maître in 1767) learned his craft with the sons of André-Charles Boulle, probably from A-C. Boulle the younger (1685-1745) or Charles-Joseph Boulle (d. 1754). Amongst his most celebrated patrons were Louis XV's daughters, Mesdames Adelaîde and Victoire for their château de Bellevue, and important collectors such as the fermier général Mulot de Pressigny. Levasseur père specialised in copying and repairing Boulle furniture and, like fellow ébénistes Montigny, Joseph Baumhauer, Jean-Louis Faizelot-Delorme and Weisweiler, worked extensively with the then principal marchand-mercier for Boulle furniture Claude-François Julliot. Levasseur père does not appear to have continued working after the Revolution.
His son and grandson followed in his footsteps, both continuing to use his stamp and specialising in Boulle marquetry furniture well into the 1820s. His son Pierre-Etienne was not made a maître, probably because of the Revolution and married a daughter of Roger van der Cruse (‘RVLC’) dit Lacroix. His own son Pierre-François-Henri, known as ‘Levasseur Jeune’, succeeded him in 1823 and, according to an advertisement placed in the Bazar Parisien in 1822, described himself as perhaps the only ébéniste making and repairing Boulle furniture in Paris, 'furniture seldom seen but avidly sought by collectors and dealers' (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p.316).