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Lot Essay
Joseph Gengenbach, known as Canabas, maître in 1766.
Similarly to the previous lot, this screen, designed to protect from both heat and cold, was intended for an intimate domestic setting. Here, Canabas achieved the goût anglais style in his use of solid mahogany, clean lines, and Chinese-inspired pierced fretwork, a design element which first appeared in English furniture in the eighteenth century. Canabas made a number of comparable screens fitted with interlacing openwork, including an almost identical pair, unstamped but firmly attributed to Canabas, sold Christie’s, Paris, 13 April 2017, lot 252 (€43,750); one formerly in the collection of Serge Roche et Rotel, see G. Janneau and P. Devinoy, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paris, 1952, pl. 176; and a stamped example at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon, see P. Verlet, Les Meubles Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1982, ill. 33. High-end utilitarian furniture of this type was particularly popular with the older members of the royal family, including Madame Adélaïde, who commissioned a similar screen from Gilles Joubert in 1771 for her apartments at Versailles. An almost identical example featuring openwork and Chinese wallpaper by Canabas was delivered to the château de Bellevue for the use of Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire, see Sotheby's, New York, 3 November 1989, lot 121.
The château de Bellevue in Meudon, near Paris, was built for Madame de Pompadour in 1750 according to the plans of Jean Cailleteau. Of moderate size, the palace was erected to serve as an intimate hideaway for Louis XV and his mistress, and was aptly named Bellevue after the expansive views of the Seine visible from the building’s site. In the late 1750s the estate was transferred to the Crown and the building was refurbished by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. After Louis XV’s death in 1774, the palace was given to the surviving daughters of the late king: Mesdames Adélaïde (1732-1800), Victoire, (1733-1799) and Sophie (1734-1782). In the early 1780s the Mesdames embarked on an extensive renovation of the château, during which they ordered sumptuous furniture in ebony, lacquer and mahogany from the marchands-merciers Darnault frères. Some of the most luxurious items delivered were executed in lacquer, however the majority of the pieces were in mahogany or veneered in other exotic woods. Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire preferred the relatively simple life at Bellevue and it was this château from which the sisters fled for Italy in 1791 during the turmoil of the French Revolution. The building survived the Revolution, but was eventually demolished in 1823.
Similarly to the previous lot, this screen, designed to protect from both heat and cold, was intended for an intimate domestic setting. Here, Canabas achieved the goût anglais style in his use of solid mahogany, clean lines, and Chinese-inspired pierced fretwork, a design element which first appeared in English furniture in the eighteenth century. Canabas made a number of comparable screens fitted with interlacing openwork, including an almost identical pair, unstamped but firmly attributed to Canabas, sold Christie’s, Paris, 13 April 2017, lot 252 (€43,750); one formerly in the collection of Serge Roche et Rotel, see G. Janneau and P. Devinoy, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paris, 1952, pl. 176; and a stamped example at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon, see P. Verlet, Les Meubles Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1982, ill. 33. High-end utilitarian furniture of this type was particularly popular with the older members of the royal family, including Madame Adélaïde, who commissioned a similar screen from Gilles Joubert in 1771 for her apartments at Versailles. An almost identical example featuring openwork and Chinese wallpaper by Canabas was delivered to the château de Bellevue for the use of Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire, see Sotheby's, New York, 3 November 1989, lot 121.
The château de Bellevue in Meudon, near Paris, was built for Madame de Pompadour in 1750 according to the plans of Jean Cailleteau. Of moderate size, the palace was erected to serve as an intimate hideaway for Louis XV and his mistress, and was aptly named Bellevue after the expansive views of the Seine visible from the building’s site. In the late 1750s the estate was transferred to the Crown and the building was refurbished by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. After Louis XV’s death in 1774, the palace was given to the surviving daughters of the late king: Mesdames Adélaïde (1732-1800), Victoire, (1733-1799) and Sophie (1734-1782). In the early 1780s the Mesdames embarked on an extensive renovation of the château, during which they ordered sumptuous furniture in ebony, lacquer and mahogany from the marchands-merciers Darnault frères. Some of the most luxurious items delivered were executed in lacquer, however the majority of the pieces were in mahogany or veneered in other exotic woods. Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire preferred the relatively simple life at Bellevue and it was this château from which the sisters fled for Italy in 1791 during the turmoil of the French Revolution. The building survived the Revolution, but was eventually demolished in 1823.