Lot Essay
Joseph Stockel, maître in 1775
It is rare in the oeuvre of Joseph Stockel to find furniture with marquetry decoration. It is likely that he, in common with many ébénistes of the time, bought marquetry panels from marquetry specialists such as Andre-Louis Gilbert (1746 - 1809) who is thought to have supplied ébénistes such as Bircklé, Boudin, Roussel and Dautriche (see: A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, London, 1989, p. 323). It would however also seem likely that, in an age when marquetry decoration was in such demand, the larger ateliers would have perhaps had their own marquetry specialist (see: G. de Bellaigue, 'Engravings and the French Eighteenth-Century Marqueteur', Burlington Magazine, May 1965, pp. 240-250 [part I] and July 1965, pp. 356-363 [part II]). The sources for marquetry ruins such as appear on this bureau are examined by G. de Bellaigue, 'Ruins in Marquetry', Apollo, January 1968, pp. 12-16. Such scenes were intended to resemble paintings as much as possible, an illusion heightened by ormolu framing and their positioning. Engravings after G. P. Pannini, Hubert Robert and P.-A. de Machy were particularly popular for the sentiments they evoked of the Grand Tour. G. de Bellaigue illustrates the panel on a roll-top desk at Waddesdon with a scene (fig. 1) similar to the oval panel on the roll-top of this lot, derived from a painting by G. P. Pannini, Les Ruines du Péloponèse, engraved by P.-F. Tardieu. He also illustrates a commode by Stockel (figs. 14 and 15) in the Jones Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, with oval marquetry panels, one of which has a similar pyramid to the central panel on the roll-top of this lot, which derives from N. Tardieu's engraving of Sebastiano and Marco Ricci's Memorial to Sir Clowdisley Shovell
Similar marquetry panels appear on various pieces of furniture sold at Christie's, for example a Louis XVI commode by Gilbert and a Louis XVI bureau à cylindre, sold from the Edward James Collection, West Dean, Sussex, 2, 3 and 6 June 1986, lots 135 and 137 respectively, and a bureau à cylindre by Denizot, sold twice in these Rooms, most recently 6 July 1978, lot 112. Similar marquetry also appears on a table à ecrire, a secretaire and a commode from the Cartier Collection, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-27 November 1979, lots 143, 167 and 168 respectively.
A similar Louis XVI marquetry bureau, sold in these Rooms, 5 July 1928, lot 144, thought at the time to be by Georges Jansen, is also illustrated, Christie's Season 1928, London, 1928, p. 334
It is rare in the oeuvre of Joseph Stockel to find furniture with marquetry decoration. It is likely that he, in common with many ébénistes of the time, bought marquetry panels from marquetry specialists such as Andre-Louis Gilbert (1746 - 1809) who is thought to have supplied ébénistes such as Bircklé, Boudin, Roussel and Dautriche (see: A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, London, 1989, p. 323). It would however also seem likely that, in an age when marquetry decoration was in such demand, the larger ateliers would have perhaps had their own marquetry specialist (see: G. de Bellaigue, 'Engravings and the French Eighteenth-Century Marqueteur', Burlington Magazine, May 1965, pp. 240-250 [part I] and July 1965, pp. 356-363 [part II]). The sources for marquetry ruins such as appear on this bureau are examined by G. de Bellaigue, 'Ruins in Marquetry', Apollo, January 1968, pp. 12-16. Such scenes were intended to resemble paintings as much as possible, an illusion heightened by ormolu framing and their positioning. Engravings after G. P. Pannini, Hubert Robert and P.-A. de Machy were particularly popular for the sentiments they evoked of the Grand Tour. G. de Bellaigue illustrates the panel on a roll-top desk at Waddesdon with a scene (fig. 1) similar to the oval panel on the roll-top of this lot, derived from a painting by G. P. Pannini, Les Ruines du Péloponèse, engraved by P.-F. Tardieu. He also illustrates a commode by Stockel (figs. 14 and 15) in the Jones Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, with oval marquetry panels, one of which has a similar pyramid to the central panel on the roll-top of this lot, which derives from N. Tardieu's engraving of Sebastiano and Marco Ricci's Memorial to Sir Clowdisley Shovell
Similar marquetry panels appear on various pieces of furniture sold at Christie's, for example a Louis XVI commode by Gilbert and a Louis XVI bureau à cylindre, sold from the Edward James Collection, West Dean, Sussex, 2, 3 and 6 June 1986, lots 135 and 137 respectively, and a bureau à cylindre by Denizot, sold twice in these Rooms, most recently 6 July 1978, lot 112. Similar marquetry also appears on a table à ecrire, a secretaire and a commode from the Cartier Collection, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-27 November 1979, lots 143, 167 and 168 respectively.
A similar Louis XVI marquetry bureau, sold in these Rooms, 5 July 1928, lot 144, thought at the time to be by Georges Jansen, is also illustrated, Christie's Season 1928, London, 1928, p. 334