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Lot Essay
Designed as a union of the goût Grec style of the 1750's and the antiquarian style of André-Charles Boulle, which underwent a revival during the third quarter of the Eighteenth century, this table can be linked to the oeuvre of the maître-ébéniste Philippe-Claude Montigny (maître in 1766). Along with his competitor Étienne Levasseur, Montigny specialized in restoring and reconstituting Louis XIV and Régence Boulle furniture for clients such as LaLive de Jully, Crozat and the marquis de Marigny, superintendant des Arts et Manufactures. In this way, he produced singular interpretations of earlier styles, at times instilling his furniture with a more developed sense of up-to-date style.
Perhaps most interesting, though, are the distinctive satyr-mask angle-mounts found on this table. These mounts were not particular to works by Montigny, though he did use these mounts on, for example, his stamped table en chiffoniére sold from the Alexander Collection in these Rooms, 30 April 1999, lot 48. Montigny's cousin, the marchand-ébéniste Jacques Dubois, employed the same mounts, as seen in a Chinese lacquer-mounted sécretaire à abbatant illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 279, fig. C. The connection between the two, supporting the possibility they may have shared models for ormolu mounts, is further supported by a series of bureau plats à la Grec which are often stamped by both ébénistes (including one sold from the Collection of Rory Cameron, Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 741). Finally, a table à liseuse stamped by Jacques Dautriche with the same satyr-mask mounts was sold anonymously Christie's Monaco, 16-17 June 2001, lot 661.
Perhaps most interesting, though, are the distinctive satyr-mask angle-mounts found on this table. These mounts were not particular to works by Montigny, though he did use these mounts on, for example, his stamped table en chiffoniére sold from the Alexander Collection in these Rooms, 30 April 1999, lot 48. Montigny's cousin, the marchand-ébéniste Jacques Dubois, employed the same mounts, as seen in a Chinese lacquer-mounted sécretaire à abbatant illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 279, fig. C. The connection between the two, supporting the possibility they may have shared models for ormolu mounts, is further supported by a series of bureau plats à la Grec which are often stamped by both ébénistes (including one sold from the Collection of Rory Cameron, Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 741). Finally, a table à liseuse stamped by Jacques Dautriche with the same satyr-mask mounts was sold anonymously Christie's Monaco, 16-17 June 2001, lot 661.