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Lot Essay
These encoignures, although unsigned, can be confidently attributed to the celebrated bniste Jean-Pierre Latz (c. 1691-1754). Born near Cologne and appointed bniste privilgi du roi in 1741, as the 1754 inventory taken following his death reveals, the principal activity of his workshop appears to have been the production of clock-cases - one hundred and seventy clock-cases being recorded, as opposed to forty-eight pieces of carcase-furniture. As Henry Hawley comprehensively argued in 'Jean-Pierre Latz, Cabinet-Maker', The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art, September/October 1970, much of Latz's oeuvre can be confidently attributed on the basis of the ormolu mounts alone, for he is known to have cast and chased his own mounts in contravention of the guild rules. Indeed, a report written in 1749 following the seizure of ormolu mounts from his workshop at the instigation of the bronze-caster's guild lists no less than 2,288 different models and parts.
Although the original patron of these princely encoignures remains tantalisingly untraced, there is a strong possibility that they were supplied for the German market. Latz executed much of his furniture for export to Germany - several of his most celebrated pieces are still to be found in Berlin and Dresden - and both Frederick II of Prussia and Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, ordered much furniture from Paris and particularly from Latz. This fact is further confirmed by the 1754 inventory taken following Latz's death, which lists both Monsieur Petit, commissionaire du Roye de Prusse, as one of his creditors, as well as 2,217 livres owed to Monsieur Leleux, agens du Roys de Prusse, who was probably in fact the agent of the Elector of Saxony.
As Hawley observed, these encoignures display identical mounts on both the apron and the corner frame to those on a commode formerly in the Residenzschloss, Dresden and now at Schloss Moritzburg, near Dresden (illustrated in H. Hawley, op cit., pp. 244-245, fig. 38), whilst the distinctive caryatid angle-mounts are uniquely shared with the bureau plat supplied to Frederick II for Sanssouci, Potsdam (H. Hawley, op cit., pp. 246-247, fig. 40). As Hawley notes, although these caryatid angle-mounts are inspired by the oeuvre of Charles Cressent, this precise model only features on the Hearst encoignures and the Sanssouci bureau plat and thus the possibility that they were conceived together cannot be ruled out. The design of the marquetry also recalls much of Latz's signed pieces, the characteristic lozenge-shaped diaper-pattern also featuring, for instance, on the Niarchos desk (Ibid., fig.26), whilst the stylised foliate scrolls relate to those on the closely related chteau d'Eu encoignures stamped by Latz and sold in the Akram Ojjeh sale, Sotheby's Monaco, 25-6 June 1979, lot 44 ($623,000; ibid., fig. 22).
These superbly executed ormolu mounts - so characteristic of Latz's oeuvre - are stamped with the monogram LT to the reverse. This monogram is, apparently, unrecorded and it has not been possible to establish if the identical mounts on the commode in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden (which shares the apron mount) or on the bureau plat at Sanssouci, Potsdam (which displays the identical and distinctive 'espagnolette chutes') are similarly stamped. Whilst it is, therefore, a possibility that this monogram may turn out to be that of Latz's workshop, it is more probable that the monogram - not intrinsic to the cast but stamped after - is that of a bronzier who cleaned and repaired the mounts subsequently.
Although the original patron of these princely encoignures remains tantalisingly untraced, there is a strong possibility that they were supplied for the German market. Latz executed much of his furniture for export to Germany - several of his most celebrated pieces are still to be found in Berlin and Dresden - and both Frederick II of Prussia and Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, ordered much furniture from Paris and particularly from Latz. This fact is further confirmed by the 1754 inventory taken following Latz's death, which lists both Monsieur Petit, commissionaire du Roye de Prusse, as one of his creditors, as well as 2,217 livres owed to Monsieur Leleux, agens du Roys de Prusse, who was probably in fact the agent of the Elector of Saxony.
As Hawley observed, these encoignures display identical mounts on both the apron and the corner frame to those on a commode formerly in the Residenzschloss, Dresden and now at Schloss Moritzburg, near Dresden (illustrated in H. Hawley, op cit., pp. 244-245, fig. 38), whilst the distinctive caryatid angle-mounts are uniquely shared with the bureau plat supplied to Frederick II for Sanssouci, Potsdam (H. Hawley, op cit., pp. 246-247, fig. 40). As Hawley notes, although these caryatid angle-mounts are inspired by the oeuvre of Charles Cressent, this precise model only features on the Hearst encoignures and the Sanssouci bureau plat and thus the possibility that they were conceived together cannot be ruled out. The design of the marquetry also recalls much of Latz's signed pieces, the characteristic lozenge-shaped diaper-pattern also featuring, for instance, on the Niarchos desk (Ibid., fig.26), whilst the stylised foliate scrolls relate to those on the closely related chteau d'Eu encoignures stamped by Latz and sold in the Akram Ojjeh sale, Sotheby's Monaco, 25-6 June 1979, lot 44 ($623,000; ibid., fig. 22).
These superbly executed ormolu mounts - so characteristic of Latz's oeuvre - are stamped with the monogram LT to the reverse. This monogram is, apparently, unrecorded and it has not been possible to establish if the identical mounts on the commode in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden (which shares the apron mount) or on the bureau plat at Sanssouci, Potsdam (which displays the identical and distinctive 'espagnolette chutes') are similarly stamped. Whilst it is, therefore, a possibility that this monogram may turn out to be that of Latz's workshop, it is more probable that the monogram - not intrinsic to the cast but stamped after - is that of a bronzier who cleaned and repaired the mounts subsequently.