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Lot Essay
Bernard II van Risen Burgh, called ‘BVRB’, maître circa 1730.
With its chamfered slender cabriole legs and the finely-chased foliate mounts adorning its frieze, this elegant table is characteristic of the oeuvre of Bernard II Van Risen Burgh ('BVRB') and is closely related to the example which is depicted in the 1756 portrait of Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher (formerly in the Collection of Baron Maurice de Rothschild and now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich). The latter table is recorded in the catalogue of the sale of Boucher's estate in 1771: '1006 - Un vide-poche, fait par Bernard, il est en bois de rose et amarante, le dessus de bois de violette entouré d'un quart de rond, chute, sabots et ornements de bronze doré. Hauteur 25 pouces, longeur 15 pouces 6 lignes, largeur 10 pouces 9 lignes.'
This celebrated model belongs to a group of almost identical tables, all stamped by, or attributed to BVRB, which display minor differences in the shape of the apron, the design of the ormolu mounts or the marquetry. It is likely that this group of small tables was supplied through the intervention of a marchand-mercier such as Lazare Duvaux, who is known to have delivered furniture by BVRB to Madame de Pompadour (F.J.B. Watson, The Antique Collector, December 1960, p. 227). Indeed, on 27 January 1750 Lazare Duvaux sold to Madame Rouillé ‘une petite table à la Pompadour, avec ses cornets en bois satiné a fleurs, 72 livres’ (Livre-Journal, no. 432), which could well have represented a table of this model made fashionable by and named after the King’s favourite.
This group can be subdivided into two categories. The first, with a fixed top, is typically fitted with at least one writing-surface, and the side drawer is fitted with an inkwell. This type of table was only ever used for writing and an example of this type is recorded in an inventory of Madame de Pompadour's château de Saint-Hubert: 'Une table à écrire en bois de rose et fleurs de bois de violette ayant par devant un tablette à coulisse couverte de maroquin noir, à droit un tiroir à clef garni d'encrier, poudrier et boite d'éponge.' The second group, which includes the present example, is typically fitted with a hinged top enclosing various compartments, and a small fitted drawer to the side, often with an inkwell. This model of table was used by ladies for arranging ribbons and toiletries. This group comprises several examples stamped by BVRB and attributed to him. Those most closely related to the present three tables (lots 115-117), with the bois-de-bout floral marquetry and the double-bowed aprons of that depicted in the Boucher portrait, include:
- the preceding two lots.
- a further table sold from the collection of Djahanguir Riahi, Christie’s, New York, 3 November 2000, lot 14 ($215,000) having previously been in the Dubois-Chefdebien Collection, sold Paris, 3eme vente, hôtel Drouot, 13-14 February 1941, lot 130; subsequently in the Carlhian Collection, sold Ader & Picard, Palais Galliera, Paris, 7 December 1968, lot 121; and again anonymously at Ader & Picard, hôtel Drouot, Paris, 3 December 1969, lot 148 (FF 71,000, where purchased by M. Riahi).
- a table lacking its undertier, formerly in the collection of Baron Maurice de Rothschild, château de Pregny, Switzerland and now in the Wrightsmann Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (F. J. B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol. 1, cat. no. 128; which in error also includes the Doucet provenance of lot 115 in this catalogue).
- a table from the collection of the late Dowager Vicountess Harcourt G.B.E., sold Christie's, London, 6 July 1961, lot 33 (7,200 gns to Partridge); and subsequently anonymously at Sotheby’s, London, 25 June 1982, lot 52 (£21,100).
- a table formerly in the collection of Madame de Polès, sold Me. Ader, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 17-18 November 1936, lot 183 (FF 38,000, purchased by Edouard Jonas).
- another sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 5 July 1984, lot 56 (£32,000) and subsequently published by Partridge Fine Arts, Summer Exhibition, London, 1985, no. 57.
- another sold from the Georges Lurcy Collection, Parke-Bernet, New York, Part II, 8-9 November, 1957, lot 197 ($7,200).
With its chamfered slender cabriole legs and the finely-chased foliate mounts adorning its frieze, this elegant table is characteristic of the oeuvre of Bernard II Van Risen Burgh ('BVRB') and is closely related to the example which is depicted in the 1756 portrait of Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher (formerly in the Collection of Baron Maurice de Rothschild and now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich). The latter table is recorded in the catalogue of the sale of Boucher's estate in 1771: '1006 - Un vide-poche, fait par Bernard, il est en bois de rose et amarante, le dessus de bois de violette entouré d'un quart de rond, chute, sabots et ornements de bronze doré. Hauteur 25 pouces, longeur 15 pouces 6 lignes, largeur 10 pouces 9 lignes.'
This celebrated model belongs to a group of almost identical tables, all stamped by, or attributed to BVRB, which display minor differences in the shape of the apron, the design of the ormolu mounts or the marquetry. It is likely that this group of small tables was supplied through the intervention of a marchand-mercier such as Lazare Duvaux, who is known to have delivered furniture by BVRB to Madame de Pompadour (F.J.B. Watson, The Antique Collector, December 1960, p. 227). Indeed, on 27 January 1750 Lazare Duvaux sold to Madame Rouillé ‘une petite table à la Pompadour, avec ses cornets en bois satiné a fleurs, 72 livres’ (Livre-Journal, no. 432), which could well have represented a table of this model made fashionable by and named after the King’s favourite.
This group can be subdivided into two categories. The first, with a fixed top, is typically fitted with at least one writing-surface, and the side drawer is fitted with an inkwell. This type of table was only ever used for writing and an example of this type is recorded in an inventory of Madame de Pompadour's château de Saint-Hubert: 'Une table à écrire en bois de rose et fleurs de bois de violette ayant par devant un tablette à coulisse couverte de maroquin noir, à droit un tiroir à clef garni d'encrier, poudrier et boite d'éponge.' The second group, which includes the present example, is typically fitted with a hinged top enclosing various compartments, and a small fitted drawer to the side, often with an inkwell. This model of table was used by ladies for arranging ribbons and toiletries. This group comprises several examples stamped by BVRB and attributed to him. Those most closely related to the present three tables (lots 115-117), with the bois-de-bout floral marquetry and the double-bowed aprons of that depicted in the Boucher portrait, include:
- the preceding two lots.
- a further table sold from the collection of Djahanguir Riahi, Christie’s, New York, 3 November 2000, lot 14 ($215,000) having previously been in the Dubois-Chefdebien Collection, sold Paris, 3eme vente, hôtel Drouot, 13-14 February 1941, lot 130; subsequently in the Carlhian Collection, sold Ader & Picard, Palais Galliera, Paris, 7 December 1968, lot 121; and again anonymously at Ader & Picard, hôtel Drouot, Paris, 3 December 1969, lot 148 (FF 71,000, where purchased by M. Riahi).
- a table lacking its undertier, formerly in the collection of Baron Maurice de Rothschild, château de Pregny, Switzerland and now in the Wrightsmann Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (F. J. B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, New York, 1966, vol. 1, cat. no. 128; which in error also includes the Doucet provenance of lot 115 in this catalogue).
- a table from the collection of the late Dowager Vicountess Harcourt G.B.E., sold Christie's, London, 6 July 1961, lot 33 (7,200 gns to Partridge); and subsequently anonymously at Sotheby’s, London, 25 June 1982, lot 52 (£21,100).
- a table formerly in the collection of Madame de Polès, sold Me. Ader, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 17-18 November 1936, lot 183 (FF 38,000, purchased by Edouard Jonas).
- another sold anonymously at Christie’s, London, 5 July 1984, lot 56 (£32,000) and subsequently published by Partridge Fine Arts, Summer Exhibition, London, 1985, no. 57.
- another sold from the Georges Lurcy Collection, Parke-Bernet, New York, Part II, 8-9 November, 1957, lot 197 ($7,200).