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拍品專文
Under a raking light, it is possible to see traces of the original Wedgwood cameo mounted treatment of the fallfront of these secretaires prior to their ebony veneer being added in the early 19th century. Each had five oval plaques of decreasing size hanging presumably either side of a large rectangular Sèvres porcelain panel. In design, they must therefore have been almost identical to the secrétaire illustrated in P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p.65. This same form corresponds with an entry at the Depot de Versailles taken by 'citoyen Honoré Florentin in the third year of the Republic No 13 Un meuble forme de médailler de trois pieds 11 pouces de haut compris les pieds sur 25 pouces de large et quinze pouces de profondeur à panneaux de porcelain de Sèvres représentant un bouquet composé de diverse fleurs orné de dix medaillons formant guirlandes.....5000 livres.'
A possible candidate for the present Restauration ebony and ebonised scheme of these secrétaires is the marchand Maelrondt. A dealer who specialised in objets de luxe of the ancien regime, he is known to have embellished furniture to the tastes of the day. It was certainly the latter who was responsible for commissioning Belanger to make a matching ebony and lacquer encoignure for the Queen Hortense suite of lacquer furniture by Riesener, which was subsequently sold in the Maelrondt sale in Paris, 15 November 1824, lots 306, 307, 308 (sold again from the Ojjeh Collection, Christie's Monaco, 11 December 1999, lot 35).
THE MEDALLIONS
This same ormolu medallion of A Sacrifice to Love is thought to have been added in the early 19th century to two secrétaires by Riesener in the Wallace Collection, London, including that supplied for Marie-Antoinette at the Grand Trianon in 1783 (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue - Furniture, II, London, 1996, nos. 198 (F303) and 199 (F302). This theory was first suggested by P. Verlet (Les Bronzes Dorés du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p.335) discussing the sales of the Feuchère foundry between 1824-31. L.-F. Feuchère père was extensively employed by the Garde-Meuble for the restoration and recasting of gilt-bronze, and his sales included both 'Bronzes anciens et modernes', lot 400 in the 1829 sale being 'Divers bas-reliefs anciens de Martincourt, seront divisés sous ce numéro.'
This same plaque also features on the lacquer secrétaire attributed to Riesener, bought in the early 19th century by George Watson-Taylor for Erlestoke Mansion, Wiltshire, from where it was sold in 1832. Subsequently at Hamilton Palace, it is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (G. Wilson and C.Hess, Summary Catalogue of European Decorative Arts, Los Angeles, 2001, no. 52).
Henry Ford II's remarkable collection of French furniture was largely formed with the advice of Rosenberg and Steibel, New York. A large proportion of the French furniture and works of art they sold to Ford came directly from the Viennese Rothschilds, as well as Baronne Renée de Becker (née Rothschild). These sécrétaires are certainly in the goût Rothschild.
A possible candidate for the present Restauration ebony and ebonised scheme of these secrétaires is the marchand Maelrondt. A dealer who specialised in objets de luxe of the ancien regime, he is known to have embellished furniture to the tastes of the day. It was certainly the latter who was responsible for commissioning Belanger to make a matching ebony and lacquer encoignure for the Queen Hortense suite of lacquer furniture by Riesener, which was subsequently sold in the Maelrondt sale in Paris, 15 November 1824, lots 306, 307, 308 (sold again from the Ojjeh Collection, Christie's Monaco, 11 December 1999, lot 35).
THE MEDALLIONS
This same ormolu medallion of A Sacrifice to Love is thought to have been added in the early 19th century to two secrétaires by Riesener in the Wallace Collection, London, including that supplied for Marie-Antoinette at the Grand Trianon in 1783 (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue - Furniture, II, London, 1996, nos. 198 (F303) and 199 (F302). This theory was first suggested by P. Verlet (Les Bronzes Dorés du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p.335) discussing the sales of the Feuchère foundry between 1824-31. L.-F. Feuchère père was extensively employed by the Garde-Meuble for the restoration and recasting of gilt-bronze, and his sales included both 'Bronzes anciens et modernes', lot 400 in the 1829 sale being 'Divers bas-reliefs anciens de Martincourt, seront divisés sous ce numéro.'
This same plaque also features on the lacquer secrétaire attributed to Riesener, bought in the early 19th century by George Watson-Taylor for Erlestoke Mansion, Wiltshire, from where it was sold in 1832. Subsequently at Hamilton Palace, it is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (G. Wilson and C.Hess, Summary Catalogue of European Decorative Arts, Los Angeles, 2001, no. 52).
Henry Ford II's remarkable collection of French furniture was largely formed with the advice of Rosenberg and Steibel, New York. A large proportion of the French furniture and works of art they sold to Ford came directly from the Viennese Rothschilds, as well as Baronne Renée de Becker (née Rothschild). These sécrétaires are certainly in the goût Rothschild.