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Lot Essay
Roger Vandercruse, called Lacroix, maître in 1755.
The numbered paper label NO 614 to the the underside of this bonheur-du-jour is an inventory label of a French Royal château. It is most probable that it relates to either an inventory for the château de Fontainebleau or Compiègne in the years after 1784. The unidentified Royal brand on the underside is may indicate that this piece was in a Royal château during the Restauration period.
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. This small bonheur-du-jour decorated with dot-trellis parquetry is characteristic and the incorporation of porcelain plaques, although not original, are typical of RVLC's work for the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier for whom he often supplied Sèvres mounted furniture. An oval occasional table stamped Lacroix and displaying the dot-trellis parquetry design is illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes Français, 1989, p.283, fig, 303.
Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, was born the son of the ouvrier libre François van der Cruse in 1728. As was typical of the time when the guild system defined ones social standing as well as more personal contacts, Roger's three sisters all married maître-ébénistes. Elected maître in 1755, Roger took over his father's business and was soon supplying furniture to the ébéniste Pierre II Migeon, directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans.
As mentioned in the cataloguing it is evident that the oval porcelain plaques, while of a similar date period, are not original. It is supposed that the plaques have been cut from the bases of small plates or saucers as the decoration is not entirely centered and the edges of the plaques unglazed. For a Meissen cup and saucer with nearly identical gilding see lot 458 in this sale.
The numbered paper label NO 614 to the the underside of this bonheur-du-jour is an inventory label of a French Royal château. It is most probable that it relates to either an inventory for the château de Fontainebleau or Compiègne in the years after 1784. The unidentified Royal brand on the underside is may indicate that this piece was in a Royal château during the Restauration period.
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. This small bonheur-du-jour decorated with dot-trellis parquetry is characteristic and the incorporation of porcelain plaques, although not original, are typical of RVLC's work for the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier for whom he often supplied Sèvres mounted furniture. An oval occasional table stamped Lacroix and displaying the dot-trellis parquetry design is illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes Français, 1989, p.283, fig, 303.
Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, was born the son of the ouvrier libre François van der Cruse in 1728. As was typical of the time when the guild system defined ones social standing as well as more personal contacts, Roger's three sisters all married maître-ébénistes. Elected maître in 1755, Roger took over his father's business and was soon supplying furniture to the ébéniste Pierre II Migeon, directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans.
As mentioned in the cataloguing it is evident that the oval porcelain plaques, while of a similar date period, are not original. It is supposed that the plaques have been cut from the bases of small plates or saucers as the decoration is not entirely centered and the edges of the plaques unglazed. For a Meissen cup and saucer with nearly identical gilding see lot 458 in this sale.