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Lot Essay
This central escutcheon and the combined handle and escutcheon of the flanking drawers on the present bureau appear on a group of bureaux stamped by two of the Louis XV era’s most celebrated ébénistes: Bernard II Van Risenburgh, known as BVRB (d.1765) and Jacques Dubois (c.1693-1763). Both BVRB and Dubois are thought to have either cast their own mounts or ordered their bronziers or marchands to retain the models for their exclusive use. The presence of the same mounts on furniture supplied by both ébénistes would indicate that they must have collaborated on a regular basis with the same marchand, almost certainly Thomas-Joachim Hébert for whom BVRB supplied furniture prior to 1750.
However, the origin of the bois-de-bout floral marquetry on the bureau plat can be credited to BVRB who was among the first to revive the fashion for floral marquetry decoration on furniture, a taste which had been out of favor since the Régence period. In fact, BVRB supplied almost all of the first deliveries of floral marquetry furniture to the Garde-Meuble delivered by Hebert in 1745 for the Dauphin and the Dauphine at Versailles. These pieces were all embellished with his characteristic bois-de-boût marquetry of end-cut floral trails in kingwood on a bois satiné and, subsequently, on a tulipwood ground (D. Meyer, Le Mobilier de Versailles, vol. I, Dijon, 2002, no. 29, pp. 108-111).
Related bureaux plats by BVRB that share these characteristics include one formerly in the Lesley & Emma Sheafer Collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (acc. No. 1975-356-186); one formerly in the collection of the Earls of Lonsdale at Barleythorpe Hall, Rutland, sold at Christie’s, London, 14 December 2000, lot 100; one formerly in the collection of Jules Porges (1838-1921), sold by his descendants at Christie’s, London, 7 December 1995, lot 107; one reputedly formerly in the collection of King Umberto of Italy and sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 3 March 1990, lot 243.
Related examples by Dubois with the same mounts include one formerly in the collection of André Meyer sold at Christie’s, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 100 and another formerly in the collection of William Rand sold at Christie’s, New York, 21 October 1997, lot 74.
However, the origin of the bois-de-bout floral marquetry on the bureau plat can be credited to BVRB who was among the first to revive the fashion for floral marquetry decoration on furniture, a taste which had been out of favor since the Régence period. In fact, BVRB supplied almost all of the first deliveries of floral marquetry furniture to the Garde-Meuble delivered by Hebert in 1745 for the Dauphin and the Dauphine at Versailles. These pieces were all embellished with his characteristic bois-de-boût marquetry of end-cut floral trails in kingwood on a bois satiné and, subsequently, on a tulipwood ground (D. Meyer, Le Mobilier de Versailles, vol. I, Dijon, 2002, no. 29, pp. 108-111).
Related bureaux plats by BVRB that share these characteristics include one formerly in the Lesley & Emma Sheafer Collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (acc. No. 1975-356-186); one formerly in the collection of the Earls of Lonsdale at Barleythorpe Hall, Rutland, sold at Christie’s, London, 14 December 2000, lot 100; one formerly in the collection of Jules Porges (1838-1921), sold by his descendants at Christie’s, London, 7 December 1995, lot 107; one reputedly formerly in the collection of King Umberto of Italy and sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 3 March 1990, lot 243.
Related examples by Dubois with the same mounts include one formerly in the collection of André Meyer sold at Christie’s, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 100 and another formerly in the collection of William Rand sold at Christie’s, New York, 21 October 1997, lot 74.