Lot Essay
Ferdinand Bury, maître in 1775
Although stamped by the marchand-mercier Jean-Baptiste Tuart, this bureau à cylindre was executed by the ébéniste Ferdinand Bury. Characteristic of his oeuvre, it belongs to a distinctive group, such as those sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 733 and by Guy de Rothschild from the château de Ferrières, Sotheby's Monaco, 3 December 1994, lot 80. Both display the characteristic ormolu-bound central circular medallion, while the former is stamped by both Bury and Tuart, evidence indeed of a collaboration between ébéniste and marchand, which was obviously successful, as the dual stamp appears subsequently. Further cylinder bureaux of this form were sold from the Roberto Polo Collection, Paris, Ader, Picard, Tajan, 17 November 1991 and anonymously in these Rooms, 17 June 1987, lot 60.
JEAN-BAPTISTE TUART
A partner in his father's commerce d'ébénisterie, Jean-Baptiste Tuart married the daughter of the ébéniste Cochois in 1750 and lived in the Cloister of Saint Germain L'Auxerrois. In 1757 he established a boutique in the rue Saint Honoré, the centre of the great marchand-merciers, at the sign of the château de Bellevue and this flourished with the patronage of the Prince de Nassau, the marquis de Marigny, the marquis de Mailly-Nesle and the duc de Brissac.
Although stamped by the marchand-mercier Jean-Baptiste Tuart, this bureau à cylindre was executed by the ébéniste Ferdinand Bury. Characteristic of his oeuvre, it belongs to a distinctive group, such as those sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 733 and by Guy de Rothschild from the château de Ferrières, Sotheby's Monaco, 3 December 1994, lot 80. Both display the characteristic ormolu-bound central circular medallion, while the former is stamped by both Bury and Tuart, evidence indeed of a collaboration between ébéniste and marchand, which was obviously successful, as the dual stamp appears subsequently. Further cylinder bureaux of this form were sold from the Roberto Polo Collection, Paris, Ader, Picard, Tajan, 17 November 1991 and anonymously in these Rooms, 17 June 1987, lot 60.
JEAN-BAPTISTE TUART
A partner in his father's commerce d'ébénisterie, Jean-Baptiste Tuart married the daughter of the ébéniste Cochois in 1750 and lived in the Cloister of Saint Germain L'Auxerrois. In 1757 he established a boutique in the rue Saint Honoré, the centre of the great marchand-merciers, at the sign of the château de Bellevue and this flourished with the patronage of the Prince de Nassau, the marquis de Marigny, the marquis de Mailly-Nesle and the duc de Brissac.