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Lot Essay
Martin Carlin, maître in 1766.
Like the commode (lot 70), these encoignures, with their sumptuous combination of Oriental lacquer and ormolu mounts clearly reveal the creative genius of the Parisian marchands-merciers. Of the select few who dominated taste in Paris in the 1780s, their form is stylistically closest to the work of the frères D'Arnault, who specialised in objets de luxe, particularly lacquer, much of which they purchased in sales like that of the duc d'Aumont and the duc de Bouillon.
Perfectly balanced from the front, an examination of the reverse reveals that these encoignures were originally conceived on a smaller scale, without the frieze; they have been raised in height with the addition of the frieze to match the commode, either at the time of or immediately after their construction. This may well have been in response to a rapid commission. That this adjustment took place so near to the time of construction is clear not only from the uniform oxidisation of the colour to the reverse, but also by the fact that one of the encoignures is stamped above the new frieze with an indistinct stamp, probably that of Carlin (who died in 1785) as well as the JME, which proves that this change of heart took place before the Revolution. Interestingly, the legs of the encoignures and the border mount immediately beneath the marble slab are different to those on the Saunier commode and stylistically clearly belong to Carlin. Closely related legs and the same border immediately beneath the top also feature on the lacquer bureau plat supplied by Carlin (but finished by Schneider following the latter's death in 1785) for the cabinet of Madame Vicoire at Bellevue in 1786 (musée du Louvre, A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français, Paris, 1989, fig.403), as well as on the pietra dura mounted centre table sold from the collection of André Meyer, Christie's New York, 26 October 2001, lot 50 ($1,436,000).
Like the commode (lot 70), these encoignures, with their sumptuous combination of Oriental lacquer and ormolu mounts clearly reveal the creative genius of the Parisian marchands-merciers. Of the select few who dominated taste in Paris in the 1780s, their form is stylistically closest to the work of the frères D'Arnault, who specialised in objets de luxe, particularly lacquer, much of which they purchased in sales like that of the duc d'Aumont and the duc de Bouillon.
Perfectly balanced from the front, an examination of the reverse reveals that these encoignures were originally conceived on a smaller scale, without the frieze; they have been raised in height with the addition of the frieze to match the commode, either at the time of or immediately after their construction. This may well have been in response to a rapid commission. That this adjustment took place so near to the time of construction is clear not only from the uniform oxidisation of the colour to the reverse, but also by the fact that one of the encoignures is stamped above the new frieze with an indistinct stamp, probably that of Carlin (who died in 1785) as well as the JME, which proves that this change of heart took place before the Revolution. Interestingly, the legs of the encoignures and the border mount immediately beneath the marble slab are different to those on the Saunier commode and stylistically clearly belong to Carlin. Closely related legs and the same border immediately beneath the top also feature on the lacquer bureau plat supplied by Carlin (but finished by Schneider following the latter's death in 1785) for the cabinet of Madame Vicoire at Bellevue in 1786 (musée du Louvre, A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français, Paris, 1989, fig.403), as well as on the pietra dura mounted centre table sold from the collection of André Meyer, Christie's New York, 26 October 2001, lot 50 ($1,436,000).