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Lot Essay
These sumptuous mahogany commodes enhanced with finely chased ormolu are designed in the Louis Seize antique or 'Pompeian' fashion of the 1780s. Conceived as 'commode-tables' for a bedroom apartment, their filigreed bronze frames evoke both the Roman tripod-altar and the concept of ancient 'sacrifices at love's altar'. The mahogany tops, inset like Roman marble tripods, have tablet projections in the centers and canted corners; while the figured, silk-like, veneer creates a drapery effect that is increased by their tripartite composition. The entablatures comprise Grecian-stepped cornices with wreathed pearled ribbon-guilloches, while poetic laurels wreath their friezes beneath the concealing toilette-drawers. Here flowered and foliated guilloches of Roman acanthus accompany Venus's sacred roses, that are gathered in sacred veils festooned from sacrificial rams and recall the poets' Feast of Venus. The pilasters are sunk with golden bronze bas-reliefs also recalling ancient festivals with sacred urn-capped 'altar' pedestals. These wine-krater urns, with Grecian-fretted handles, issue palm-flowered thyrsic-wands, whose 'rainceaux' of laurels are enwreathed by Venus pearl-strings. The same pearled and striated ribbons wreath the tablets sunk in the drawers and framing the central escutcheons, Like the handle-plates, these comprise rose-bouquets, incorporated in vine-enriched palm-flowers, and wreathed by pearled rings. Such furniture was originally designed by Parisian marchand-merciers to harmonise with the fashionable papers and silks painted in the Pompeian or Etruscan style promoted by artists such as Jean-Demosthene Dugourc, Louis XVI's 'Dessinateur du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne'.
CHRISTIAN MEYER
Attributed to the cabinetmaker Christian Meyer -- and arguably his masterpieces -- these commodes were almost certainly delivered to Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna's Pavlovsk Palace between 1795 and 1800. Meyer, about whom little is recorded, was clearly well-established in St. Petersburg by 1784 as he gave carpentry lessons to the young Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine, the sons of Paul and Maria. And within a decade he had supplied an enormous amount of furniture to the Imperial family - between 1793 and 1795 he delivered ninety-nine pieces of case furniture to the Hermitage alone (See A. Chenevière, Russian Furniture: The Golden Age 1780-1840, p. 85). Many other pieces went to furnish Paul's favorite St. Petersburg residence, the Mikhailovsky Palace, and to Paul and Maria's cherished retreat at Pavlovsk. His furniture is characterized by restrained design, fine quality of veneers but, most notably, by possibly the highest quality of ormolu mounts being produced at the time in Russia. Meyer was obviously influenced by his celebrated furniture of David Roentgen, who dazzled not only the courts of Western Europe as ébeniste mécanicien of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, but Catherine the Great, as well, on his visits to St. Petersburg. The furniture supplied to Roentgen's Russian clients -- deceptively simple designs of rich mahogany and extremely refined ormolu mounts -- had an enormous influence on locally produced pieces which lasted well into the 19th century. But, thanks to recent archival research, Meyer's reputation has been largely resuscitated now that we are able to identify the many important pieces supplied by Meyer to the court - most of which had traditionally been attributed to Roentgen.
Meyer was also influenced by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron -- originally used by Catherine the Great to remodel her great Baroque palace at Tsarskoe Selo -- who was largely responsible for the design of Pavlovsk. His severe, but delicate, neoclassical interiors with their urns, laurel leaves and scrolling vines were among the most sophisticated -- and influential -- designs in Russia at the time.
THE PAVLOVSK LABEL
Unfortunately, the Pavlovsk Palace inventory label cannot now provide us with a complete historical background for the commodes. The label has been dated by Dr. Guzanov, Curator of Pavlovsk Palace Museum, as from the second half of the 19th c., but before 1893. All of the surviving Pavlovsk inventories were searched by Dr. Cherneva, Research Curator at Pavlovsk -- and while there are possible matches -- the descriptions are too vague to prove with any certainty that the present commodes are listed. These inventories included Maria Feodorovna's own 1795 inventory which she wrote herself, a second done in 1803, just before the fire of that year, and its amendments of 1817 after the reconstruction was largely finished and the inventory of 1848, which consisted mainly of paintings. The later 19th century inventories were all destroyed during the Second World War as were the Soviet-era inventories of the 1920's and 1930's. And without these later inventories it is impossible to tell exactly to which inventory the number 1009 even corresponds. Dr. Goeres, of the Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Garten, Potsdam, however, mentions the possibility that these commodes might have been transfered from the Mikhailovsky Palace to Pavlovsk after the 1803 fire destroyed much of Pavlovsk and its furnishings. As these archives are more complete, further research may provide additional information.
OTHER RELATED COMMODES BY MEYER
In the Weimar Schlossmuseum there is a closely related commode, though with an additional, larger drawer with a diamond-shaped lock surround -- rather than the circular one of the upper drawers -- within a plinth base. This commode is almost certainly part of the several pairs also made by Meyer for the Imperial family, but all of which left Russia almost immediately. The Pavlovsk commodes are likely the only commodes of this group to have remained in Russia. According to the Pavlovsk archives, at least two pairs of commodes -- one simpler and one more complex -- were ordered for the dowries of the Grand Duchesses Maria Pavlovna and Elena Pavlovna. Maria, who married Carl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1783-1853) in 1804, arrived in Weimar with her dowry filling 80 carriages -- and much of this treasury of Russian decorative art and icons remain in the Weimar Schlossmuseum today. There are three Christian Meyer commodes in Weimar: one is similar to the Pavlovsk commodes -- with four drawers on a plinth base -- and there are two other simpler commodes (see R. Bothe and G.-D. Ulferts, Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar: Möbel, Uhren, Reliefintarsien, Berlin, 2001, p. 81). Maria's sister, Elena, married Friedrich Ludwig, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778-1819) in 1799 at Gatchina Palace. One of these commodes which was last mentioned in the 1924 inventory of Ludwigslust Palace in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was still at Ludwigslust as late as 1945, when it disappeared in the chaos of the last days of World War II (see H. Huth, Roentgen Furniture, Abraham and David Roentgen: European Cabinet-makers, London, 1974, no. 255).
Dr. Goeres notes that Christian Meyer and his workshop produced probably twelve commodes of this model. One remains in Berlin in the state collections. The Berlin commode, which is similar but not identical to the Pavlovsk commode, also has a plinth base. He also noted that of all the commodes, the present Pavlovsk pair are the richest in decoration. This would seem appropriate as they were intended for the Imperial residence of Paul and Maria, rather than for one of their children, and indicates, perhaps, that they were the original pair.
The existence of these additional commodes that went to Germany, confirms not only the popularity of Meyer's design but also that the present Pavlovsk commodes were possibly also made with this further drawered plinth. The construction and age of the skirting board and legs indicate that they were probably added later.
These commodes, with their French and Russian elements, would have been among the many treasures assembled by Paul and Maria Feodorovna at Pavlovsk. The most magnificent of these objects were acquired in their travels abroad, between 1781-1782, when, with the encouragement of his mother Catherine, Paul and Maria visited Western Europe incognito, as the Comte and Comtesse du Nord. It was in France that they bought, and received as gifts, some of the finest decorative arts being produced: silk from Lyon, paintings from the studio of Hubert Robert, Gobelins and Savonnerie tapestries, porcelain from Sèvres, Galle bronzes and furniture by Jacob, Carlin and Weisweiler. Many of these objects were then installed at their newly finished Pavlovsk, along with those of Russian manufacture -- most of which are clearly derived from the decorative arts of France collected by the Grand Ducal couple.
THE DISPERSAL OF RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FURNITURE TO THE WEST
"Act No. 114
18 April, 1930
LENINGRAD
I, I. B. Raznik,... have inspected today the property kept at Pavlovsk Palace Museum under the authority of the Directorate of the Deputies of the People's Commissars... the property, which is listed below, as being part of the State Fund of non-museum value... is being reserved by me for the Leningrad Regional Financial Department..."
Never before published, these bureaucratic but chilling words condemned furniture from the Russian Imperial family to be marked for sale in the 'Antikvariat' stores and auction houses. This pair of commodes was part of this diaspora of Russian decorative arts to the West.
The winter and summer of 1917 was a disastrous period for both Russian art and architecture (Not to mention the peril facing most members of the Romanov family, aristocracy and church.). But, contrary to expectations, with the Bolshevik coup the following November, and the subsequent nationalization of property, the situation became somewhat less chaotic. The Soviets carefully inventoried the most important collections and, in several cases, opened them to the public. The new museums, in these former residences in St. Petersburg and in the surrounding countryside, were enormously popular and had the additional benefit of both keeping the objects safe from looting and the collections intact as 'house museums.' The Palace of Pavlovsk was one of their most successful efforts. This was a fate smaller private collections often suffered - for without inventories, photographic records or curators to protect them, these household objects quickly vanished and their provenance can rarely be traced. By all accounts country estates were subjected to far worse fates, with most being looted and in many cases simply burned to the ground. All of these factors help account for the relatively large number of Russian decorative arts now found outside the country - and the continued interest in collecting them. However, as economic pressure on the new Soviet government mounted, the scale of state-sanctioned de-accessioning greatly accelerated, especially under Stalin. In addition to the sales from these 'Antikvariat' stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Russians organized a series of sales abroad hoping to raise huge amounts of foreign currency. The most important of these sales were held by Rudolph Lepke's auction house in Berlin, the majority between 1928 and 1931, which sold selections from many of the "Leningrader Museen und Schlösser" including Pavlovsk, Gatchina and the Mikhailovsky and Winter Palaces in St. Petersburg. Germany was the favored venue as it had already recognized the Soviet Union and therefore the few surviving former owners had no legal recourse. Tragically, for both the collections and palaces circling St. Petersburg, these difficulties of the 1920's and 1930's were far eclipsed by what was to come with the German invasion and the Siege of Leningrad in 1941.
Christie's would like to thank Dr. A. Guzanov, Head Curator, and Dr. A. Cherneva, Research Curator, Pavlovsk Palace, whose research in the Pavlovsk archives has been greatly helpful.
Christie's would also like to thank Dr. Goeres of the Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Garten, Potsdam, for additional information on the Meyer commodes.
CHRISTIAN MEYER
Attributed to the cabinetmaker Christian Meyer -- and arguably his masterpieces -- these commodes were almost certainly delivered to Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna's Pavlovsk Palace between 1795 and 1800. Meyer, about whom little is recorded, was clearly well-established in St. Petersburg by 1784 as he gave carpentry lessons to the young Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine, the sons of Paul and Maria. And within a decade he had supplied an enormous amount of furniture to the Imperial family - between 1793 and 1795 he delivered ninety-nine pieces of case furniture to the Hermitage alone (See A. Chenevière, Russian Furniture: The Golden Age 1780-1840, p. 85). Many other pieces went to furnish Paul's favorite St. Petersburg residence, the Mikhailovsky Palace, and to Paul and Maria's cherished retreat at Pavlovsk. His furniture is characterized by restrained design, fine quality of veneers but, most notably, by possibly the highest quality of ormolu mounts being produced at the time in Russia. Meyer was obviously influenced by his celebrated furniture of David Roentgen, who dazzled not only the courts of Western Europe as ébeniste mécanicien of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, but Catherine the Great, as well, on his visits to St. Petersburg. The furniture supplied to Roentgen's Russian clients -- deceptively simple designs of rich mahogany and extremely refined ormolu mounts -- had an enormous influence on locally produced pieces which lasted well into the 19th century. But, thanks to recent archival research, Meyer's reputation has been largely resuscitated now that we are able to identify the many important pieces supplied by Meyer to the court - most of which had traditionally been attributed to Roentgen.
Meyer was also influenced by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron -- originally used by Catherine the Great to remodel her great Baroque palace at Tsarskoe Selo -- who was largely responsible for the design of Pavlovsk. His severe, but delicate, neoclassical interiors with their urns, laurel leaves and scrolling vines were among the most sophisticated -- and influential -- designs in Russia at the time.
THE PAVLOVSK LABEL
Unfortunately, the Pavlovsk Palace inventory label cannot now provide us with a complete historical background for the commodes. The label has been dated by Dr. Guzanov, Curator of Pavlovsk Palace Museum, as from the second half of the 19th c., but before 1893. All of the surviving Pavlovsk inventories were searched by Dr. Cherneva, Research Curator at Pavlovsk -- and while there are possible matches -- the descriptions are too vague to prove with any certainty that the present commodes are listed. These inventories included Maria Feodorovna's own 1795 inventory which she wrote herself, a second done in 1803, just before the fire of that year, and its amendments of 1817 after the reconstruction was largely finished and the inventory of 1848, which consisted mainly of paintings. The later 19th century inventories were all destroyed during the Second World War as were the Soviet-era inventories of the 1920's and 1930's. And without these later inventories it is impossible to tell exactly to which inventory the number 1009 even corresponds. Dr. Goeres, of the Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Garten, Potsdam, however, mentions the possibility that these commodes might have been transfered from the Mikhailovsky Palace to Pavlovsk after the 1803 fire destroyed much of Pavlovsk and its furnishings. As these archives are more complete, further research may provide additional information.
OTHER RELATED COMMODES BY MEYER
In the Weimar Schlossmuseum there is a closely related commode, though with an additional, larger drawer with a diamond-shaped lock surround -- rather than the circular one of the upper drawers -- within a plinth base. This commode is almost certainly part of the several pairs also made by Meyer for the Imperial family, but all of which left Russia almost immediately. The Pavlovsk commodes are likely the only commodes of this group to have remained in Russia. According to the Pavlovsk archives, at least two pairs of commodes -- one simpler and one more complex -- were ordered for the dowries of the Grand Duchesses Maria Pavlovna and Elena Pavlovna. Maria, who married Carl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1783-1853) in 1804, arrived in Weimar with her dowry filling 80 carriages -- and much of this treasury of Russian decorative art and icons remain in the Weimar Schlossmuseum today. There are three Christian Meyer commodes in Weimar: one is similar to the Pavlovsk commodes -- with four drawers on a plinth base -- and there are two other simpler commodes (see R. Bothe and G.-D. Ulferts, Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar: Möbel, Uhren, Reliefintarsien, Berlin, 2001, p. 81). Maria's sister, Elena, married Friedrich Ludwig, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778-1819) in 1799 at Gatchina Palace. One of these commodes which was last mentioned in the 1924 inventory of Ludwigslust Palace in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was still at Ludwigslust as late as 1945, when it disappeared in the chaos of the last days of World War II (see H. Huth, Roentgen Furniture, Abraham and David Roentgen: European Cabinet-makers, London, 1974, no. 255).
Dr. Goeres notes that Christian Meyer and his workshop produced probably twelve commodes of this model. One remains in Berlin in the state collections. The Berlin commode, which is similar but not identical to the Pavlovsk commode, also has a plinth base. He also noted that of all the commodes, the present Pavlovsk pair are the richest in decoration. This would seem appropriate as they were intended for the Imperial residence of Paul and Maria, rather than for one of their children, and indicates, perhaps, that they were the original pair.
The existence of these additional commodes that went to Germany, confirms not only the popularity of Meyer's design but also that the present Pavlovsk commodes were possibly also made with this further drawered plinth. The construction and age of the skirting board and legs indicate that they were probably added later.
These commodes, with their French and Russian elements, would have been among the many treasures assembled by Paul and Maria Feodorovna at Pavlovsk. The most magnificent of these objects were acquired in their travels abroad, between 1781-1782, when, with the encouragement of his mother Catherine, Paul and Maria visited Western Europe incognito, as the Comte and Comtesse du Nord. It was in France that they bought, and received as gifts, some of the finest decorative arts being produced: silk from Lyon, paintings from the studio of Hubert Robert, Gobelins and Savonnerie tapestries, porcelain from Sèvres, Galle bronzes and furniture by Jacob, Carlin and Weisweiler. Many of these objects were then installed at their newly finished Pavlovsk, along with those of Russian manufacture -- most of which are clearly derived from the decorative arts of France collected by the Grand Ducal couple.
THE DISPERSAL OF RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FURNITURE TO THE WEST
"Act No. 114
18 April, 1930
LENINGRAD
I, I. B. Raznik,... have inspected today the property kept at Pavlovsk Palace Museum under the authority of the Directorate of the Deputies of the People's Commissars... the property, which is listed below, as being part of the State Fund of non-museum value... is being reserved by me for the Leningrad Regional Financial Department..."
Never before published, these bureaucratic but chilling words condemned furniture from the Russian Imperial family to be marked for sale in the 'Antikvariat' stores and auction houses. This pair of commodes was part of this diaspora of Russian decorative arts to the West.
The winter and summer of 1917 was a disastrous period for both Russian art and architecture (Not to mention the peril facing most members of the Romanov family, aristocracy and church.). But, contrary to expectations, with the Bolshevik coup the following November, and the subsequent nationalization of property, the situation became somewhat less chaotic. The Soviets carefully inventoried the most important collections and, in several cases, opened them to the public. The new museums, in these former residences in St. Petersburg and in the surrounding countryside, were enormously popular and had the additional benefit of both keeping the objects safe from looting and the collections intact as 'house museums.' The Palace of Pavlovsk was one of their most successful efforts. This was a fate smaller private collections often suffered - for without inventories, photographic records or curators to protect them, these household objects quickly vanished and their provenance can rarely be traced. By all accounts country estates were subjected to far worse fates, with most being looted and in many cases simply burned to the ground. All of these factors help account for the relatively large number of Russian decorative arts now found outside the country - and the continued interest in collecting them. However, as economic pressure on the new Soviet government mounted, the scale of state-sanctioned de-accessioning greatly accelerated, especially under Stalin. In addition to the sales from these 'Antikvariat' stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Russians organized a series of sales abroad hoping to raise huge amounts of foreign currency. The most important of these sales were held by Rudolph Lepke's auction house in Berlin, the majority between 1928 and 1931, which sold selections from many of the "Leningrader Museen und Schlösser" including Pavlovsk, Gatchina and the Mikhailovsky and Winter Palaces in St. Petersburg. Germany was the favored venue as it had already recognized the Soviet Union and therefore the few surviving former owners had no legal recourse. Tragically, for both the collections and palaces circling St. Petersburg, these difficulties of the 1920's and 1930's were far eclipsed by what was to come with the German invasion and the Siege of Leningrad in 1941.
Christie's would like to thank Dr. A. Guzanov, Head Curator, and Dr. A. Cherneva, Research Curator, Pavlovsk Palace, whose research in the Pavlovsk archives has been greatly helpful.
Christie's would also like to thank Dr. Goeres of the Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Garten, Potsdam, for additional information on the Meyer commodes.