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Lot Essay
Bernard II van Risen Burgh, maître in 1730.
BVRB
This elegantly serpentined bureau, marquetry-veneered in tablets of richly striated kingwood, has its triumphal-arched frame edged by golden reeds, clasping a central foliated 'keystone' carouche enriched with a Venus-shell badge. It typifies the finely crafted work of Bernard II van Risen Burgh, known as BVRB, perhaps the most celebrated ébéniste of the Louis XV period. Established in a workshop in the Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, his oeuvre is characterized by an extremely refined constructional technique, often employing chamfered panels to the underside to allow for extra movement, as on this bureau, combined with finely chased jewel-like mounts and exotic materials such as Oriental lacquer.
BVRB worked exclusively for the marchands-merciers, particularly Thomas-Joachim Hébert and Lazare Duvaux, and was one of the first ébénistes to revive the fashion for floral marquetry decoration on furniture, perfecting the technique of bois de bout marquetry of end-cut floral trails in kingwood as on this bureau. The first deliveries of floral marquetry furniture to the Garde Meuble in 1745 by Hébert consisted almost exclusively of pieces by BVRB. Many of his exquisitely chased mounts are unique to BVRB's work and it is likely that he either designed his own mounts or that they were reserved by his bronzier for his exclusive use. The foliate clasp in the centre of the frieze and the angle mounts with piastres (which interestingly appear to have been reversed on this example, probably a 19th century restoration), are nearly identical to those on a group of small tables by BVRB, including the example in the celebrated portrait by Boucher of Madame de Pompadour, and others sold from the Alexander Collection, Christie's New York, 30 April 1999, lots 101-2.
THE ROTHSCHILD PROVENANCE
This bureau once formed part of the collection of Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808-79), grandson of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the celebrated banking dynasty. It was part of the furnishings of his London residence 148 Piccadilly, the palatial townhouse styled in the grand Renaissance manner on the Palazzo Farnese, built for him 1860-8 by the architects Thomas Marsh Nelson and Charles Innes. Like so many Rothschilds, Baron Lionel was an avid collector, amassing with a connoisseur's eye a superb collection of Old Masters and French Furniture, much of which was sold by Victor, 3rd. Lord Rothschild in 1937. This bureau was not included in the sale however, and was recently exhibited at Waddesdon Manor, home of the equally celebrated James A. de Rothschild Collection.
TOWN AND EMANUEL
Town and Emanuel were a London firm of cabinet-makers, who like many of their contemporaries in the 1830's and 1840's such as E.H. Baldock and John Webb, also dealt in antique furniture to cater to the demand of a generation of connoisseur collectors such as William Beckford and George Watson-Taylor for the furniture of the ancien régime. Based at 103 Bond Street from circa 1830 to 1849 they are recorded variously as curiosity dealers (in 1840) and in 1842 as importers and manufacturers of 'buhl, marqueterie, resner & carved furniture'. Their clients included the Duke of Buckingham, to whom they sold a group of Italian furniture from the Doge Manin's Palace, and the Duke of Buccleuch, while their trade card advertised their Royal Appointment to Queen Adelaide. Their stock-in-trade was sold at Christie's on April 19, 1849, and included pieces of their own manufacture as well as antique pieces, many of which were acquired from the great collection sales of Wanstead (1822), Fonthill (1823) and Stowe (1848).
BVRB
This elegantly serpentined bureau, marquetry-veneered in tablets of richly striated kingwood, has its triumphal-arched frame edged by golden reeds, clasping a central foliated 'keystone' carouche enriched with a Venus-shell badge. It typifies the finely crafted work of Bernard II van Risen Burgh, known as BVRB, perhaps the most celebrated ébéniste of the Louis XV period. Established in a workshop in the Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, his oeuvre is characterized by an extremely refined constructional technique, often employing chamfered panels to the underside to allow for extra movement, as on this bureau, combined with finely chased jewel-like mounts and exotic materials such as Oriental lacquer.
BVRB worked exclusively for the marchands-merciers, particularly Thomas-Joachim Hébert and Lazare Duvaux, and was one of the first ébénistes to revive the fashion for floral marquetry decoration on furniture, perfecting the technique of bois de bout marquetry of end-cut floral trails in kingwood as on this bureau. The first deliveries of floral marquetry furniture to the Garde Meuble in 1745 by Hébert consisted almost exclusively of pieces by BVRB. Many of his exquisitely chased mounts are unique to BVRB's work and it is likely that he either designed his own mounts or that they were reserved by his bronzier for his exclusive use. The foliate clasp in the centre of the frieze and the angle mounts with piastres (which interestingly appear to have been reversed on this example, probably a 19th century restoration), are nearly identical to those on a group of small tables by BVRB, including the example in the celebrated portrait by Boucher of Madame de Pompadour, and others sold from the Alexander Collection, Christie's New York, 30 April 1999, lots 101-2.
THE ROTHSCHILD PROVENANCE
This bureau once formed part of the collection of Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808-79), grandson of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the celebrated banking dynasty. It was part of the furnishings of his London residence 148 Piccadilly, the palatial townhouse styled in the grand Renaissance manner on the Palazzo Farnese, built for him 1860-8 by the architects Thomas Marsh Nelson and Charles Innes. Like so many Rothschilds, Baron Lionel was an avid collector, amassing with a connoisseur's eye a superb collection of Old Masters and French Furniture, much of which was sold by Victor, 3rd. Lord Rothschild in 1937. This bureau was not included in the sale however, and was recently exhibited at Waddesdon Manor, home of the equally celebrated James A. de Rothschild Collection.
TOWN AND EMANUEL
Town and Emanuel were a London firm of cabinet-makers, who like many of their contemporaries in the 1830's and 1840's such as E.H. Baldock and John Webb, also dealt in antique furniture to cater to the demand of a generation of connoisseur collectors such as William Beckford and George Watson-Taylor for the furniture of the ancien régime. Based at 103 Bond Street from circa 1830 to 1849 they are recorded variously as curiosity dealers (in 1840) and in 1842 as importers and manufacturers of 'buhl, marqueterie, resner & carved furniture'. Their clients included the Duke of Buckingham, to whom they sold a group of Italian furniture from the Doge Manin's Palace, and the Duke of Buccleuch, while their trade card advertised their Royal Appointment to Queen Adelaide. Their stock-in-trade was sold at Christie's on April 19, 1849, and included pieces of their own manufacture as well as antique pieces, many of which were acquired from the great collection sales of Wanstead (1822), Fonthill (1823) and Stowe (1848).