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Lot Essay
This exquisitely-inlaid games table is iconic of the superb skills of cabinetmakers who supplied the upper echelon of aristocratic society and the Imperial court of the late eighteenth century. Its superb marquetry relates the present lot to the oeuvre of Christian Meyer, who is rightly regarded as the best Saint Petersburg cabinetmaker of the late 1700s. He was the only one who was called 'the Empress's' joiner and highly praised as the one who 'could be taken on trust'. His first commissions in 1784 were for the Empress' favorite A. D. Lansky for his home in Saint Petersburg. As a manufacturer of intricate floorings, Meyer's name also features in 1786 documents, having supplied parquetry for the Raphael Loggias in the Hermitage, commissioned by the Empress herself. Typical for eighteenth-century Russian woodworkers, Meyer was skilled in the laying of intricate parquet as well as the techniques of fine marquetry cutting for the decoration of furniture, such as the present lot. By 1793 Meyer had about fifty craftsmen working in his workshop, allowing him to produce elaborate pieces for the court in relative short time.
The present table shows many similarities with a pair of card tables by Christian Meyer that were delivered circa 1795 for the private apartments of Catherine the Great at the Winter Palace and sold Christie’s, London, 7 July 2011, lot 29 (£301,250). Both lots share the same type of “Etruscan” inlay overall, the tops’ arabesque marquetry framed by a pronounced decorative border, and the bicolor inlaid legs embellished with basically identical floral marquetry. Furthermore, the same exotic woods, tulipwood and amaranth, were used as secondary decorative timbers on both lots. Interestingly, the top of the present lot is centered by a large medallion, similarly to a pair of tables attributed to Meyer and sold Christie’s, London, 6 July 2012, lot 254 (£253,250). The roundel of the present lot is inlaid with an image of sheet music and string instruments, suggesting that this table might have been intended for an interior where music was played or for a client who was particularly interested in the art of music and might have been even an amateur musician.
The present table shows many similarities with a pair of card tables by Christian Meyer that were delivered circa 1795 for the private apartments of Catherine the Great at the Winter Palace and sold Christie’s, London, 7 July 2011, lot 29 (£301,250). Both lots share the same type of “Etruscan” inlay overall, the tops’ arabesque marquetry framed by a pronounced decorative border, and the bicolor inlaid legs embellished with basically identical floral marquetry. Furthermore, the same exotic woods, tulipwood and amaranth, were used as secondary decorative timbers on both lots. Interestingly, the top of the present lot is centered by a large medallion, similarly to a pair of tables attributed to Meyer and sold Christie’s, London, 6 July 2012, lot 254 (£253,250). The roundel of the present lot is inlaid with an image of sheet music and string instruments, suggesting that this table might have been intended for an interior where music was played or for a client who was particularly interested in the art of music and might have been even an amateur musician.