SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY, ATTRIBUTED TO BEFORT JEUNE

Details

A FRENCH BRASS-INLAID TORTOISESHELL BOULLE MARQUETRY BUREAU PLAT
SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY, ATTRIBUTED TO BEFORT JEUNE
The rectangular top inlaid overall en première and contre-partie with engraved Bérainesque scenes of figures below baldequin canopies with scrolling flowers and foliage, birds, butterflies and putti, the three frieze drawers veneered accordingly, the escutcheons with ormolu masks, with three false drawers in the back above cabriole legs headed by further espagnoelette masks ending in ormolu sabots, with brass label in the drawer 'RK0602'
31 in. (79 cm.) high; 55 in. (140 cm.) wide; 31½ in. (80 cm.) deep

Provenance

Howard. B. Keck, sold Christie's New York, 11 March 1998, lot 310.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

This bureau plat can be attributed to Befort Jeune, on the basis of another of identical design but with leather top, originally in the collection of Boni de Castellane at the Palais Rose, Paris. Subsequently sold in Paris, Ader Picard Tajan, 10 December 1984, lot 131, the latter's espagnolette chutes were stamped by Befort.

Mathieu Befort 'Jeune' was the son of Jean-Baptiste Befort (d. 1840), who established his Paris workshops in 1817 in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He was a brother of Jean-Baptiste Befort, ébéniste-marqueteur and antiquaire and like him specialised in meubles de Boulle. The firm received a medal at the 1844 Paris exhibition. Befort Jeune was recorded at Neuves-Saint-Gilles from 1844 until 1880.

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