Lot Essay
A number of close stylistic and constructional analogies suggest that this and the following pair of cabinets are part of a group of late 18th or early 19th Century cabinets in the genre de Boulle that were made by Pierre Etienne Levasseur (b. post-1760), son of Etienne Levasseur, maître in 1766. A number of the similar cabinets are associated with the painter and marchand Ferréol de Bonnemaison and it is his connections with Nicolas Lerouge that has suggested an origin for these cabinets.
There are a number of cabinets in English collections with constructional analogies to the two present pairs. The frieze mounts are identical to a pair bought by the 4th Duke of Buccleuch from the English dealer, Edward Holmes Baldock in 1830-1831. This pair are illustrated in T. Murdoch ed., Boughton, the English Versailles, London, 1992, p. 127, fig. 123. This frieze also appears on a pair of cabinets, again stamped Levasseur, that was acquired with other furniture by the 1st Duke of Wellington from Le Chevalier Féréol de Bonnemaison in 1818. Another pair with this frieze were almost certainly acquired by the Marquess of Londonderry from Bonnemaison, to whom the former owed 15,801 francs in 1826. Finally, a pair with identical decoration but of smaller proportions was also acquired by the 'Iron Duke' from Bonnemaison in 1818. At the very least this evidence suggests a strong connection between Bonnemaison and this group.
Bonnemaison was a frequent visitor to England. He bought much of the French furniture that is at Stratfield Saye on behalf of the Duke of Wellington at the sale that took place following the death of Madame Lerouge on 27 April 1818. This is distinct from his having bought it and subsequently sold it to the Duke.
In his advertisement before the sale, La Neuville indicated that after the death of his wife M. Lerouge 'voulant se reposer et quitter le commerce, nous a remis le sion de diriger la vente'. The three-drawer cabinets at Stratfield Saye that are very close to these two pairs were described as follows:
(119) 'deux dits (jolis petits meubles) à trois tiroirs, avecs des têtes garnis en marbre granit 3710 Bonnemaison'.
It is probable that the vendor, the marchand Nicolas Lerouge, had bought the Stratfield Saye pair in the sale on 22 March 1802 that followed the death of Philippe François Julliot. In that sale almost seventy pieces of furniture are described as being by Boulle or else in his style. Thirty five of these are described either as bas d'armoires or as cabinets. A significant number of these cabinets were sold in an unfinished state with either ungilded mounts or no marble tops. Lot 38 (a bas d'armoire) was described as cuivre non doré and ans marbre. This sale is a most plausible source for some of the cabinets that were later in Lerouge's collection and bought by Bonnemaison. Given the quantity of meubles d'appui in the Julliot sale it seems possible that these cabinets, which are of a type known to have been there, come from that source. For example lot 44 was 'quatre autre bas d'armoires, genre de Boulle, avec ornements de bronze, sans bronze'
There are a number of cabinets in English collections with constructional analogies to the two present pairs. The frieze mounts are identical to a pair bought by the 4th Duke of Buccleuch from the English dealer, Edward Holmes Baldock in 1830-1831. This pair are illustrated in T. Murdoch ed., Boughton, the English Versailles, London, 1992, p. 127, fig. 123. This frieze also appears on a pair of cabinets, again stamped Levasseur, that was acquired with other furniture by the 1st Duke of Wellington from Le Chevalier Féréol de Bonnemaison in 1818. Another pair with this frieze were almost certainly acquired by the Marquess of Londonderry from Bonnemaison, to whom the former owed 15,801 francs in 1826. Finally, a pair with identical decoration but of smaller proportions was also acquired by the 'Iron Duke' from Bonnemaison in 1818. At the very least this evidence suggests a strong connection between Bonnemaison and this group.
Bonnemaison was a frequent visitor to England. He bought much of the French furniture that is at Stratfield Saye on behalf of the Duke of Wellington at the sale that took place following the death of Madame Lerouge on 27 April 1818. This is distinct from his having bought it and subsequently sold it to the Duke.
In his advertisement before the sale, La Neuville indicated that after the death of his wife M. Lerouge 'voulant se reposer et quitter le commerce, nous a remis le sion de diriger la vente'. The three-drawer cabinets at Stratfield Saye that are very close to these two pairs were described as follows:
(119) 'deux dits (jolis petits meubles) à trois tiroirs, avecs des têtes garnis en marbre granit 3710 Bonnemaison'.
It is probable that the vendor, the marchand Nicolas Lerouge, had bought the Stratfield Saye pair in the sale on 22 March 1802 that followed the death of Philippe François Julliot. In that sale almost seventy pieces of furniture are described as being by Boulle or else in his style. Thirty five of these are described either as bas d'armoires or as cabinets. A significant number of these cabinets were sold in an unfinished state with either ungilded mounts or no marble tops. Lot 38 (a bas d'armoire) was described as cuivre non doré and ans marbre. This sale is a most plausible source for some of the cabinets that were later in Lerouge's collection and bought by Bonnemaison. Given the quantity of meubles d'appui in the Julliot sale it seems possible that these cabinets, which are of a type known to have been there, come from that source. For example lot 44 was 'quatre autre bas d'armoires, genre de Boulle, avec ornements de bronze, sans bronze'