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拍品專文
Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix, maitre in 1755.
This spectacular commode is one of the earliest and most impressive examples of furniture executed in the neoclassical style of the 1760's. Its bold architectural form enhanced by Greek key parquetry subtly highlighted with swag-cast drawer pulls and fluted brass-inlaid forecorners defines the fashion for le goût grec among the enlightened nobility during this period. Baron Grimm's well-known statement of 1763 in his Correspondence litteraire reflects the collectors' desire for this newest trend: "during the past few years we have favoured shapes and ornaments in the antique style. This represents a great advance in taste and the fashion now has so many advocates that everything in Paris today has to be á la grecque'"
Executed by Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix, one of the greatest ébénistes of his time, the commode was purchased by the eminent francophile collector the sixth Earl of Coventry in 1763 for 936 livres. The Earl acquired it from the celebrated Parisian marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier to furnish his house at Croome Court in Worcestershire, which was lavishly redecorated by Robert Adam. Its rarity is exceptional not only because it represents one of the first examples of furniture conceived in the early 'goût grec', but also that the purchase is fully documented. The original bill, still in existence and reproduced here, is kept in the Croome Court Archives (Bill No. 14, dated 9th of September 1763).
THE EARL OF COVENTRY
George William (1722-1809), succeeded his father in 1751 as the 6th Earl of Coventry. He was best known for his great enthusiasm for contemporary French decorative arts at a crucial moment when the emerging neoclassical style was in its earliest transitional stage. The Earl had made his initial visit to Paris with his first wife, Maria (d. 1760), the elder of the beautiful Gunning sisters, whom he married in 1752. Lord Coventry came back to Paris numerous times to buy and commission furnishings and tapestries for his house at Croome.
CROOME COURT
Upon inheriting Croome, the estate that had been in his family since 1597, he commissioned Lancelot (Capability) Brown, who had probably been remodeling the park since 1748, to build a splendid new house. The interior was partially completed by 1760 when Lord Coventry engaged the services of Robert Adam, who was responsible for the final appearance of most of the main rooms (the gallery, library, and tapestry room). Adam's association of Lord Coventry and Croome continued for over thirty years and he also completely remodeled and redecorated Coventry house in Piccadilly between 1765 and 1768.
THE BOUCHER TAPESTRIES
Lord Coventry was in Paris in August and September of 1763 to arrange his most spectacular acquisition - the commissioning of the now famous Tentures de Boucher tapestries from Jacques Nielson at the Gobelins Manufactory (now in the metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). The tapestries represented a totally new style with flower-festooned damas cramoisi background and figurative oval medallions celebrating the Loves of the Gods after paintings by Francois Boucher. The idea of creating a tapestry room, the walls entirely covered above dado height, was a revolutionary one for the Gobelins and Lord Coventry may well have played a major role in its conception. He was the first client to order the series and his lead was followed by at least four other English patrons, all clients of Robert Adam (for a full discussion of the tapestries see E. Standen in Decorative Art from the Samuel H. Kess Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London, 1964, pp. 2-57).
FURNITURE PURCHASES
Lord Coventry was in Paris again the following year 'on the old tapestry account' - and on several occasions later in the 1760's (1765, 1766 and 1768). He took the opportunity to buy extensively on these visits, particularly in 1763 and 1764, and a fascinating group of bills from Parisian marchands survive among the English cabinet-makers' bills. Principal among these are the accounts from the marchand mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier but there are others from bijoutiers, parfumiers, brodeurs, 'marchands de toutes sortes d'étoffes de soie, d'or et d'argent', as well as Bachelier for Sèvres.
Poirier's well-known 1763 bill includes two pieces of furniture - one in the full Louis XV style 'Un sécretaire en armoire garnie de bronze doré' by Bernard II VanRisenBurgh, also known as BVRB (also sold at the Croome Court sale, lot 173), and this commode in the new neoclassical taste 'Une commode à la grec garnie de bronze doré.'
The same bill from Poirier also includes two pairs of ormolu wall-lights, again among the earliest recorded examples in the neoclassical idiom (sold Christie's London 13 June 1991, lots 30 and 31). Christie's has also successfully sold other works from the Coventry family collection. Amongst these is an unusual model for an armchair by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard and a pair of Louis XV ormolu-mounted Sevres Blue Nouveau pots-pourri (both sold in the same sale at Christie's, lots 32 and 29 respectively). Lord Coventry's purchases in Paris between 1763 and 1768 are a rare documented example of the enlightened taste of francophile English collectors, which was to have such a widespread influence in England.
This spectacular commode is one of the earliest and most impressive examples of furniture executed in the neoclassical style of the 1760's. Its bold architectural form enhanced by Greek key parquetry subtly highlighted with swag-cast drawer pulls and fluted brass-inlaid forecorners defines the fashion for le goût grec among the enlightened nobility during this period. Baron Grimm's well-known statement of 1763 in his Correspondence litteraire reflects the collectors' desire for this newest trend: "during the past few years we have favoured shapes and ornaments in the antique style. This represents a great advance in taste and the fashion now has so many advocates that everything in Paris today has to be á la grecque'"
Executed by Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix, one of the greatest ébénistes of his time, the commode was purchased by the eminent francophile collector the sixth Earl of Coventry in 1763 for 936 livres. The Earl acquired it from the celebrated Parisian marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier to furnish his house at Croome Court in Worcestershire, which was lavishly redecorated by Robert Adam. Its rarity is exceptional not only because it represents one of the first examples of furniture conceived in the early 'goût grec', but also that the purchase is fully documented. The original bill, still in existence and reproduced here, is kept in the Croome Court Archives (Bill No. 14, dated 9th of September 1763).
THE EARL OF COVENTRY
George William (1722-1809), succeeded his father in 1751 as the 6th Earl of Coventry. He was best known for his great enthusiasm for contemporary French decorative arts at a crucial moment when the emerging neoclassical style was in its earliest transitional stage. The Earl had made his initial visit to Paris with his first wife, Maria (d. 1760), the elder of the beautiful Gunning sisters, whom he married in 1752. Lord Coventry came back to Paris numerous times to buy and commission furnishings and tapestries for his house at Croome.
CROOME COURT
Upon inheriting Croome, the estate that had been in his family since 1597, he commissioned Lancelot (Capability) Brown, who had probably been remodeling the park since 1748, to build a splendid new house. The interior was partially completed by 1760 when Lord Coventry engaged the services of Robert Adam, who was responsible for the final appearance of most of the main rooms (the gallery, library, and tapestry room). Adam's association of Lord Coventry and Croome continued for over thirty years and he also completely remodeled and redecorated Coventry house in Piccadilly between 1765 and 1768.
THE BOUCHER TAPESTRIES
Lord Coventry was in Paris in August and September of 1763 to arrange his most spectacular acquisition - the commissioning of the now famous Tentures de Boucher tapestries from Jacques Nielson at the Gobelins Manufactory (now in the metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). The tapestries represented a totally new style with flower-festooned damas cramoisi background and figurative oval medallions celebrating the Loves of the Gods after paintings by Francois Boucher. The idea of creating a tapestry room, the walls entirely covered above dado height, was a revolutionary one for the Gobelins and Lord Coventry may well have played a major role in its conception. He was the first client to order the series and his lead was followed by at least four other English patrons, all clients of Robert Adam (for a full discussion of the tapestries see E. Standen in Decorative Art from the Samuel H. Kess Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London, 1964, pp. 2-57).
FURNITURE PURCHASES
Lord Coventry was in Paris again the following year 'on the old tapestry account' - and on several occasions later in the 1760's (1765, 1766 and 1768). He took the opportunity to buy extensively on these visits, particularly in 1763 and 1764, and a fascinating group of bills from Parisian marchands survive among the English cabinet-makers' bills. Principal among these are the accounts from the marchand mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier but there are others from bijoutiers, parfumiers, brodeurs, 'marchands de toutes sortes d'étoffes de soie, d'or et d'argent', as well as Bachelier for Sèvres.
Poirier's well-known 1763 bill includes two pieces of furniture - one in the full Louis XV style 'Un sécretaire en armoire garnie de bronze doré' by Bernard II VanRisenBurgh, also known as BVRB (also sold at the Croome Court sale, lot 173), and this commode in the new neoclassical taste 'Une commode à la grec garnie de bronze doré.'
The same bill from Poirier also includes two pairs of ormolu wall-lights, again among the earliest recorded examples in the neoclassical idiom (sold Christie's London 13 June 1991, lots 30 and 31). Christie's has also successfully sold other works from the Coventry family collection. Amongst these is an unusual model for an armchair by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard and a pair of Louis XV ormolu-mounted Sevres Blue Nouveau pots-pourri (both sold in the same sale at Christie's, lots 32 and 29 respectively). Lord Coventry's purchases in Paris between 1763 and 1768 are a rare documented example of the enlightened taste of francophile English collectors, which was to have such a widespread influence in England.