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Lot Essay
Roger van der Cruse, known as Lacroix, maître in 1755.
This elegant chiffonniere à écran or écran a pupitre epitomises the ingenuity in French ébénisterie in the latter part of the 18th Century. The combination of a detachable writing-box or secretaire together with a fire-sreen was particularly rare. A closely related example, veneered in acajou moucheté, formerly in the collection of Lucien Graux, Paris, is illustrated in G. Janneau, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paris, 1952, figs. 174-175. Another example is illustrated in J. Mottheau, Meubles et Ensembles, Régence, Louis XV, Paris 1998, pl. 16.
From the beginning of his career, Lacroix specialised in the production of small, costly items of furniture, often embellished with intricate marquetry and sophisticated mechanical devices. He collaborated on numerous occasions with the celebrated marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, who supplied precious materials such as Sèvres porcelain and oriental lacquer to be incorporated in these pieces. Poirier also introduced new furniture types and may have masterminded the creation of the present piece.
This elegant chiffonniere à écran or écran a pupitre epitomises the ingenuity in French ébénisterie in the latter part of the 18th Century. The combination of a detachable writing-box or secretaire together with a fire-sreen was particularly rare. A closely related example, veneered in acajou moucheté, formerly in the collection of Lucien Graux, Paris, is illustrated in G. Janneau, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paris, 1952, figs. 174-175. Another example is illustrated in J. Mottheau, Meubles et Ensembles, Régence, Louis XV, Paris 1998, pl. 16.
From the beginning of his career, Lacroix specialised in the production of small, costly items of furniture, often embellished with intricate marquetry and sophisticated mechanical devices. He collaborated on numerous occasions with the celebrated marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, who supplied precious materials such as Sèvres porcelain and oriental lacquer to be incorporated in these pieces. Poirier also introduced new furniture types and may have masterminded the creation of the present piece.