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Lot Essay
François Rübestuck, maître in 1766.
The 18th Century was the century of colour and, from its opening years, vernisseurs were employed to decorate whimsical panelled rooms, of which the château de Bagnolet is the ultimate, ephemeral example. The extraordinarily vivid and balanced colouring employed in these lavish decorative schemes, all too often lost over time, can however still be seen on the porcelain manufactured at both Vincennes and Sèvres, as well as on the very few pieces of furniture that have miraculously survived untouched to this day. One of the principal examples of this is the celebrated commode delivered by the marchand-mercier Thomas-Joachim Hébert for Madame de Mailly in 1743 (now in the Musée du Louvre, OA 11292).
The all too brief references to furniture of this type in 18th Century Inventories is directly because the decoration of the furniture mirrorred that of the room.
In the château de Vanves, the seat of the Prince de Condé, three pieces of furniture, including a secrétaire, are recorded in the chambre jaune in the Inventory of 1778:-
Une commode à la régence à deux tiroirs, peinte en façon de vieux laque fond jaune, garnie en cuivre ciselé et doré d'or moulu couverte de son dessus de marbre blanc et gris.
Une toilette de campagne même peinture que la commode avec garniture en verre et porcelaine.
Un petit secrétaire en armoire avec peinture pareille à la commode couvert de marbre blanc.
This description applies equally well to this secrétaire as to its twin, sold from the collection of Mrs. Hamilton Rice, Palais Galliera, Paris, 24 June 1965, lot 96 (and subsequently in Paris, Hôtel Georges V, Paris, June 1993, lot 46).
A lacquer secrétaire decorated à fond jaune, probably either this one or that from Mrs. Hamilton Rice was sold in Paris, 12 December 1856, lot 92.
FRANCOIS RUBESTUCK
François Rubestuck, elected maître in 1766, appears to have specialised in the production of furniture decorated en vernis in imitation of Oriental lacquer. His furniture, for the most part commodes, secrétaires and tables, were usually painted sur fond jonquille, or more rarely blanc camomile or green.
Other furniture stamped by Rubestuck and decorated à fond jaune comprises:- two Louis XV commodes, one formerly in the Ball Collection, New York, the other sold at Palais Galleria, Paris, 11 March 1975 (lot 155) and a Transitional secrétaire sold Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 12 March 1984, lot 65.
The 18th Century was the century of colour and, from its opening years, vernisseurs were employed to decorate whimsical panelled rooms, of which the château de Bagnolet is the ultimate, ephemeral example. The extraordinarily vivid and balanced colouring employed in these lavish decorative schemes, all too often lost over time, can however still be seen on the porcelain manufactured at both Vincennes and Sèvres, as well as on the very few pieces of furniture that have miraculously survived untouched to this day. One of the principal examples of this is the celebrated commode delivered by the marchand-mercier Thomas-Joachim Hébert for Madame de Mailly in 1743 (now in the Musée du Louvre, OA 11292).
The all too brief references to furniture of this type in 18th Century Inventories is directly because the decoration of the furniture mirrorred that of the room.
In the château de Vanves, the seat of the Prince de Condé, three pieces of furniture, including a secrétaire, are recorded in the chambre jaune in the Inventory of 1778:-
Une commode à la régence à deux tiroirs, peinte en façon de vieux laque fond jaune, garnie en cuivre ciselé et doré d'or moulu couverte de son dessus de marbre blanc et gris.
Une toilette de campagne même peinture que la commode avec garniture en verre et porcelaine.
Un petit secrétaire en armoire avec peinture pareille à la commode couvert de marbre blanc.
This description applies equally well to this secrétaire as to its twin, sold from the collection of Mrs. Hamilton Rice, Palais Galliera, Paris, 24 June 1965, lot 96 (and subsequently in Paris, Hôtel Georges V, Paris, June 1993, lot 46).
A lacquer secrétaire decorated à fond jaune, probably either this one or that from Mrs. Hamilton Rice was sold in Paris, 12 December 1856, lot 92.
FRANCOIS RUBESTUCK
François Rubestuck, elected maître in 1766, appears to have specialised in the production of furniture decorated en vernis in imitation of Oriental lacquer. His furniture, for the most part commodes, secrétaires and tables, were usually painted sur fond jonquille, or more rarely blanc camomile or green.
Other furniture stamped by Rubestuck and decorated à fond jaune comprises:- two Louis XV commodes, one formerly in the Ball Collection, New York, the other sold at Palais Galleria, Paris, 11 March 1975 (lot 155) and a Transitional secrétaire sold Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 12 March 1984, lot 65.