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Lot Essay
This 'Etruscan' ebonised centre table was undoubtedly commissioned by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerrre. Conceived as a stand for its antique slab of granit d'hellespont, the table epitomizes the refined line and understated 'antique' style of the 1780s output of Daguerre.
In the sale of Daguerre's stock at Christie's, 25-26 March 1791, lot 75 was described as 'AN ELEGANT EBONY PIER TABLE with marble top, enriched with or-moulu ornaments'. Although this scant description makes any identification impossible, this description is echoed in lot 40, which was described as 'AN EBONY PIER TABLE, the top inlaid with fine and scarce specimens of marble colectid in Italy, and richly mounted'. This second table can be identified with that sold from the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 87 (Ffr.2,109,000), which is of extremely closely related elongated form to the Wildenstein table.
The collapse of the French market in the autumn of 1789 following the Revolution led the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, in association with Martin-Eloi Lignereux, to turn to England. Where he became one of the principal suppliers to George, Prince of Wales, later George IV at Carlton House. As the crisis in France deepened during the Terror, Daguerre disposed of a large part of his stock in the Christie's sale in 1791. His remaining stock was sold in France in 1793.
Although Daguerre sub-contracted to numerous ébénistes including Martin Carlin, the Wildenstein table can be convincingly attributed to Adam Weisweiler - indeed there is an obliterated stamp to the underside, a tell-tale sign of the involvement of a marchand-mercier.
Daguerre supplied two closely related tables to George IV, of which one is in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace (illustrated in H. Clifford Smith, Buckingham Palace, Its Furniture, Decoration & History, London, 1931, p.206). A closely related pair of tables probably originally acquired in Paris in 1785 by Princess Isabella Lubomirska (née Czartoryska) descended into the fabled collections of the Counts Potocki at Lancut Castle, Poland. Displaying porphyry tops and with one frame stamped Weisweiler, the Lancut tables were formerly in the Wrightsman Collection. Discussed in F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. I, New York, 1966, pp. 220-221, no. 115A-B, this pair was subsequently sold at Christie's New York, 30 October 1993, lot 402.
A further pair, with vases upon the stretchers, is in the musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris. The Camondo pair was almost certainly acquired directly from Daguerre by Count Alexandre Stroganoff in 1785, and remained in the collection until sold at Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 12-13 May 1931, lots 185 and 186. These are discussed in N. Gasc, The Nissim de Camondo Museum, Paris, 2001, inv.86, p.61.
In the sale of Daguerre's stock at Christie's, 25-26 March 1791, lot 75 was described as 'AN ELEGANT EBONY PIER TABLE with marble top, enriched with or-moulu ornaments'. Although this scant description makes any identification impossible, this description is echoed in lot 40, which was described as 'AN EBONY PIER TABLE, the top inlaid with fine and scarce specimens of marble colectid in Italy, and richly mounted'. This second table can be identified with that sold from the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 87 (Ffr.2,109,000), which is of extremely closely related elongated form to the Wildenstein table.
The collapse of the French market in the autumn of 1789 following the Revolution led the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre, in association with Martin-Eloi Lignereux, to turn to England. Where he became one of the principal suppliers to George, Prince of Wales, later George IV at Carlton House. As the crisis in France deepened during the Terror, Daguerre disposed of a large part of his stock in the Christie's sale in 1791. His remaining stock was sold in France in 1793.
Although Daguerre sub-contracted to numerous ébénistes including Martin Carlin, the Wildenstein table can be convincingly attributed to Adam Weisweiler - indeed there is an obliterated stamp to the underside, a tell-tale sign of the involvement of a marchand-mercier.
Daguerre supplied two closely related tables to George IV, of which one is in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace (illustrated in H. Clifford Smith, Buckingham Palace, Its Furniture, Decoration & History, London, 1931, p.206). A closely related pair of tables probably originally acquired in Paris in 1785 by Princess Isabella Lubomirska (née Czartoryska) descended into the fabled collections of the Counts Potocki at Lancut Castle, Poland. Displaying porphyry tops and with one frame stamped Weisweiler, the Lancut tables were formerly in the Wrightsman Collection. Discussed in F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. I, New York, 1966, pp. 220-221, no. 115A-B, this pair was subsequently sold at Christie's New York, 30 October 1993, lot 402.
A further pair, with vases upon the stretchers, is in the musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris. The Camondo pair was almost certainly acquired directly from Daguerre by Count Alexandre Stroganoff in 1785, and remained in the collection until sold at Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 12-13 May 1931, lots 185 and 186. These are discussed in N. Gasc, The Nissim de Camondo Museum, Paris, 2001, inv.86, p.61.