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Lot Essay
Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, matre in 1755
The 'pittoresque' floral sprays embellishing the slides to each end, which remarkably retain so much of their original colouring, were undoubtedly inspired by contemporary engravings. Probably executed by a specialist marqueteur, they share much in common with the celebrated engravings published by Jean-Jacques Avril after designs by Louis Tessier in his Livre de Six Bouquets. Louis Tessier (1719-81), who was elected peintre du Roi pour les fleurs, belonged to a family of weavers working at the Gobelins and is known to have inspired related floral marquetry panels on furniture by Riesener (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, Vol.I, no. 64, illustrations on pp.304,306-7, no.69, p.355 and no.53, pp.244-5).
Although this precise floral-trellis parquetry design has not been traced, closely related decoration features on the secrtaire abattant by RVLC illustrated in A. Pradre, Les Ebnistes Franais de Louis XIV la Rvolution, Paris, 1989, fig.287. Similarly, further elements of the ornament can also be found in RVLC's oeuvre, such as the husk-trails to the legs, which appear on the secrtaire en cabinet at Waddesdon (ibid., fig.319, p.289), as well as the stylised floral tendrils to the frame of the top, which are of similar character to those on a bonheur du jour by RVLC (ibid., fig.316, p.289). A conclusive attribution to RVLC is unsustainable, however, as the same decorative vocabulary also appears in the oeuvres of his confrres Godefroy Dester (matre in 1774), Mathieu-Guillaume Cramer (matre in 1771) and Guiilaume Kemp (matre in 1764).
The 'pittoresque' floral sprays embellishing the slides to each end, which remarkably retain so much of their original colouring, were undoubtedly inspired by contemporary engravings. Probably executed by a specialist marqueteur, they share much in common with the celebrated engravings published by Jean-Jacques Avril after designs by Louis Tessier in his Livre de Six Bouquets. Louis Tessier (1719-81), who was elected peintre du Roi pour les fleurs, belonged to a family of weavers working at the Gobelins and is known to have inspired related floral marquetry panels on furniture by Riesener (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, Vol.I, no. 64, illustrations on pp.304,306-7, no.69, p.355 and no.53, pp.244-5).
Although this precise floral-trellis parquetry design has not been traced, closely related decoration features on the secrtaire abattant by RVLC illustrated in A. Pradre, Les Ebnistes Franais de Louis XIV la Rvolution, Paris, 1989, fig.287. Similarly, further elements of the ornament can also be found in RVLC's oeuvre, such as the husk-trails to the legs, which appear on the secrtaire en cabinet at Waddesdon (ibid., fig.319, p.289), as well as the stylised floral tendrils to the frame of the top, which are of similar character to those on a bonheur du jour by RVLC (ibid., fig.316, p.289). A conclusive attribution to RVLC is unsustainable, however, as the same decorative vocabulary also appears in the oeuvres of his confrres Godefroy Dester (matre in 1774), Mathieu-Guillaume Cramer (matre in 1771) and Guiilaume Kemp (matre in 1764).