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Lot Essay
The tightly scrolled reserves of inlay on the end panels of this bureau plat are conceived in a similar manner to the famous parquet floor executed by the Ebéniste Ordinaire du Roi, Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (c. 1639-1715) after designs by Jean Bérain for the Royal Swedish Coach, commissioned by Charles XI (d. 1697) in 1696 after a fire destroyed the Royal Stables of the Three Crowns Palace, Stockholm (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, London, 1989, p. 65, fig. 11, and M. Conforti & G. Walton, eds., Sweden: A Royal Treasury 1550-1700, exhibition catalogue, Washington, 1988, p. 186). Oppenordt was in the service of the Bâtiments du roi and Cronström, the Swedish envoy, mentioned in a letter of 1694 that 'Bérain has admirable designs and skilled craftsmen'. Given several further connections between Bérain and Oppenordt, for example the sarcophagus-shaped commode in the Wallace Collection, it is possible that Cronström was refering to Oppenordt (Pradère, op. cit., p. 63 and fig, 10).
A commode offered anonymously, in these Rooms, 15 June 1995, lot 50, and attributed to Oppenordt has similar panels of scrolling foliage. A related bureau plat was sold anonymously, Sotheby's Monaco, 13 December 1997, lot 26.
A commode offered anonymously, in these Rooms, 15 June 1995, lot 50, and attributed to Oppenordt has similar panels of scrolling foliage. A related bureau plat was sold anonymously, Sotheby's Monaco, 13 December 1997, lot 26.