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Lot Essay
Leonard Boudin, maître in 1761.
The top of this elegant and ingenious mechanical table is veneered with a marquetry composition centering on a bucolic landscape in an oval cartouche. Surrounding this are panels with a fashionable background à mosaïque, displaying three trophies. They are emblematic of war, the hunt and gardening and pastoral pursuits, and are derived from a set of six trophies designed and engraved by Gilles Demarteau l'aîné (1722-1776), entitled Plusiers Trophées Dessinées et Gravées par Demarteau l'aîné, which was published in Paris in the middle of the 18th Century (see G. de Bellaligue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, pp. 466-468, figs on pp. 470-471; D. Alcouffe, G. de Bellaigue a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925 Milan 1981, p. 78, fig 30. A closely related mechanical table, stamped by Pierre Roussel (1723-1782, maître-ébéniste in 1745) and with a nearly identical top, was formerly in the collection of Sidney J. Lamon (sold Christie's London, 29 November 1973, lot 95, and again, 2 December 1998, lot 150). On this, there is a different hunting trophy at the top, and the pastoral trophy to the right is replaced by a repetition in reverse of the war trophy to the left.
FURNITURE WITH TROPHIES AFTER GILLES DEMARTEAU
The two side trophies also occur on the top of a related table stamped by Boudin, where they flank a large Chinoiserie scene (sold from the collection of Mrs. Charles Allen Jr., Sotheby's New York, 1 November 1997, lot 85). This Chinoiserie scene is in its turn repeated on another such table again stamped by Boudin, formerly in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild and Almina, Countess of Carnavon, sold Christie's London, 19 May 1925, lot 299; it is there flanked by floral branches. The war trophy is inlaid in a similar position on yet another table, stamped by Pierre Boichod (maître in 1769; Alcouffe and Bellaigue, 1981, p. 78, fig 29). Finally, other trophies from the same series occur on an unstamped table in the collection of the National Trust at Waddesdon Manor (Bellaigue, 1974, no. 95). In connection with this piece, G. de Bellaigue lists further pieces of furniture on which Demarteau trophies are depicted in marquetry.
Clearly, at a time when avant-garde taste had turned towards severe goût grec and lighter Louis XVI furniture, there was till a large and eager market for this colourful, intricately decorated furniture in the late rococo style. In their combination of mechanical devices, pictorial marquetry in scrolled surrounds, cube marquetry and panels à mosaïque, these tables ultimately derive from examples of the late 1750s and early 1760s by Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763; see R. Stratmann-Döhler, Jean-François Oeben, Paris 2002, for numerous examples). The stamps found on the tables cited above demonstrate that a number of ébénistes continued to cater to this earlier taste. Some of them may have mainly been involved as dealers. The present table is most closely related to that from the Lamon collection which is stamped by Roussel, suggesting that Boudin may have stamped it in his capacity as a dealer. On the other hand, the two further tables bearing Boudin's stamp which are also mentioned above, indicate that such pieces were a speciality of his establishment.
As very similar marquetry occurs on pieces stamped by different ébénistes, it has been suggested that the pictorial panels may have been executed by specialist marqueteurs who supplied them to a number of workshops. It must be noted, however, that most of these tables display a unity of design and conception throughout; for instance, on the present piece, the trellis pattern on the side panels of the top is repeated on the sides, the scale being subtly enlarged. Obviously, the workshops where these pieces were produced were fully in command of every aspect of their manufacture.
Although quite old-fashioned by around 1770-'75, the charm of these tables continued to exert its appeal and an updated model was devised at that time, with straight sides and angular surrounds to the marquetry panels. Such pieces remained in production at least until the years around 1780 (Bellaigue, 1974, nos. 101-102).
BRETTON PARK, YORKSHIRE
The Palladian mansion at Bretton Park was built circa 1730 for Sir William Wentworth, Bt., by Colonel James Moyser. The house passed by descent to Sir Thomas Wentworth, 5th Bt. On his death in 1792, it was inherited by his eldest natural daughter, who had married Colonel Thomas Richard Beaumont (1758-1829). Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries distinguished architects added to and altered the house: John Carr in 1793, William Atkinson in 1807, Sir Jeffry Wyattville in 1815 and George Basevi in 1842 (H. Colvin, British Architects 1660-1840, London, 1978, pp. 565, 196, 76, 962 and 95).
The top of this elegant and ingenious mechanical table is veneered with a marquetry composition centering on a bucolic landscape in an oval cartouche. Surrounding this are panels with a fashionable background à mosaïque, displaying three trophies. They are emblematic of war, the hunt and gardening and pastoral pursuits, and are derived from a set of six trophies designed and engraved by Gilles Demarteau l'aîné (1722-1776), entitled Plusiers Trophées Dessinées et Gravées par Demarteau l'aîné, which was published in Paris in the middle of the 18th Century (see G. de Bellaligue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, pp. 466-468, figs on pp. 470-471; D. Alcouffe, G. de Bellaigue a.o., Il mobile francese dal Medioevo al 1925 Milan 1981, p. 78, fig 30. A closely related mechanical table, stamped by Pierre Roussel (1723-1782, maître-ébéniste in 1745) and with a nearly identical top, was formerly in the collection of Sidney J. Lamon (sold Christie's London, 29 November 1973, lot 95, and again, 2 December 1998, lot 150). On this, there is a different hunting trophy at the top, and the pastoral trophy to the right is replaced by a repetition in reverse of the war trophy to the left.
FURNITURE WITH TROPHIES AFTER GILLES DEMARTEAU
The two side trophies also occur on the top of a related table stamped by Boudin, where they flank a large Chinoiserie scene (sold from the collection of Mrs. Charles Allen Jr., Sotheby's New York, 1 November 1997, lot 85). This Chinoiserie scene is in its turn repeated on another such table again stamped by Boudin, formerly in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild and Almina, Countess of Carnavon, sold Christie's London, 19 May 1925, lot 299; it is there flanked by floral branches. The war trophy is inlaid in a similar position on yet another table, stamped by Pierre Boichod (maître in 1769; Alcouffe and Bellaigue, 1981, p. 78, fig 29). Finally, other trophies from the same series occur on an unstamped table in the collection of the National Trust at Waddesdon Manor (Bellaigue, 1974, no. 95). In connection with this piece, G. de Bellaigue lists further pieces of furniture on which Demarteau trophies are depicted in marquetry.
Clearly, at a time when avant-garde taste had turned towards severe goût grec and lighter Louis XVI furniture, there was till a large and eager market for this colourful, intricately decorated furniture in the late rococo style. In their combination of mechanical devices, pictorial marquetry in scrolled surrounds, cube marquetry and panels à mosaïque, these tables ultimately derive from examples of the late 1750s and early 1760s by Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763; see R. Stratmann-Döhler, Jean-François Oeben, Paris 2002, for numerous examples). The stamps found on the tables cited above demonstrate that a number of ébénistes continued to cater to this earlier taste. Some of them may have mainly been involved as dealers. The present table is most closely related to that from the Lamon collection which is stamped by Roussel, suggesting that Boudin may have stamped it in his capacity as a dealer. On the other hand, the two further tables bearing Boudin's stamp which are also mentioned above, indicate that such pieces were a speciality of his establishment.
As very similar marquetry occurs on pieces stamped by different ébénistes, it has been suggested that the pictorial panels may have been executed by specialist marqueteurs who supplied them to a number of workshops. It must be noted, however, that most of these tables display a unity of design and conception throughout; for instance, on the present piece, the trellis pattern on the side panels of the top is repeated on the sides, the scale being subtly enlarged. Obviously, the workshops where these pieces were produced were fully in command of every aspect of their manufacture.
Although quite old-fashioned by around 1770-'75, the charm of these tables continued to exert its appeal and an updated model was devised at that time, with straight sides and angular surrounds to the marquetry panels. Such pieces remained in production at least until the years around 1780 (Bellaigue, 1974, nos. 101-102).
BRETTON PARK, YORKSHIRE
The Palladian mansion at Bretton Park was built circa 1730 for Sir William Wentworth, Bt., by Colonel James Moyser. The house passed by descent to Sir Thomas Wentworth, 5th Bt. On his death in 1792, it was inherited by his eldest natural daughter, who had married Colonel Thomas Richard Beaumont (1758-1829). Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries distinguished architects added to and altered the house: John Carr in 1793, William Atkinson in 1807, Sir Jeffry Wyattville in 1815 and George Basevi in 1842 (H. Colvin, British Architects 1660-1840, London, 1978, pp. 565, 196, 76, 962 and 95).