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Lot Essay
Jean-Pierre Latz (1691-1754), active circa 1740-1750.
Born in 1691 in Cologne, Latz moved to Paris in 1719 and in 1739 married Marie-Madeleine Seignet, daughter of a well-connected property developer. His business evidently prospered as by 1741 he was appointed ébéniste privilegié du Roi, which enabled him to exercise his profession freely without entering the guild as a master. Like the renowned cabinetmaker Charles Cressent before him, Latz also contravened guild regulations by casting his own bronzes. The apron and handle mounts seen on this commode are identical to those seen on other examples, including two marquetry commodes by Latz sold in Paris in 1985 and 1987, illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp. 482-483.
Latz's work is predominantly characterized by floral marquetry, and lacquer-mounted pieces are rare. However, Latz did work in conjunction with the marchands-merciers who would have provided him with the Chinese lacquer panels for this piece. Examples by Latz decorated with vernis martin are known, including a polychrome and black-lacquer bureau plat, sold Christie's New York, 19 May 1988, lot 202 and a red lacquer bureau de pente from the collection of Florence J. Gould, sold Sotheby's Monte Carlo, 26 June 1984, lot 699.
Born in 1691 in Cologne, Latz moved to Paris in 1719 and in 1739 married Marie-Madeleine Seignet, daughter of a well-connected property developer. His business evidently prospered as by 1741 he was appointed ébéniste privilegié du Roi, which enabled him to exercise his profession freely without entering the guild as a master. Like the renowned cabinetmaker Charles Cressent before him, Latz also contravened guild regulations by casting his own bronzes. The apron and handle mounts seen on this commode are identical to those seen on other examples, including two marquetry commodes by Latz sold in Paris in 1985 and 1987, illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp. 482-483.
Latz's work is predominantly characterized by floral marquetry, and lacquer-mounted pieces are rare. However, Latz did work in conjunction with the marchands-merciers who would have provided him with the Chinese lacquer panels for this piece. Examples by Latz decorated with vernis martin are known, including a polychrome and black-lacquer bureau plat, sold Christie's New York, 19 May 1988, lot 202 and a red lacquer bureau de pente from the collection of Florence J. Gould, sold Sotheby's Monte Carlo, 26 June 1984, lot 699.