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Lot Essay
THIS SECRETAIRE BELONGS TO A GROUP OF LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY RUSSIAN CASE FURNITURE DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR SIZE, STRONG ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND RICH MAHOGANY OFFSET WITH BRASS AND ORMOLU NEOCLASSIC ORNAMENT. TRADITIONALLY, MANY OF THESE PIECES HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO THE GERMAN CABINETMAKER DAVID ROENTGEN WHO, AFTER HIS SUCCESS AT THE FRENCH COURT, MADE REPEATED TRIPS TO RUSSIA SUPPLYING CATHERINE THE GREAT WITH MUCH OF HER FINEST FURNITURE. MANY EXAMPLES REMAIN IN THE COLLECTIONS AT THE WINTER PALACE IN ST. PETERSBURG AND AT TSARSKOE SELO. ROENTGEN'S FURNITURE WAS EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL AND ALTHOUGH FEW CABINETMAKERS COULD EQUAL THE MECHANICAL (AND SOMETIMES EVEN MUSICAL!) COMPLEXITY OF HIS IMPERIAL COMMISSIONS, HIS PIECES INSPIRED MANY FOLLOWERS THROUGHOUT THE BALTIC REGION, BUT ESPECIALLY IN ST. PETERSBURG.
CHRISTIAN MEYER, PROBABLY THE MOST CELEBRATED RUSSIAN CABINET-MAKER WORKING IN ST. PETERSBURG AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, WAS CLEARLY IMPRESSED BY ROENTGEN'S FURNITURE. AS IS NOW WELL-KNOWN, MEYER WAS AN ESTABLISHED CABINETMAKER IN ST. PETERSBURG BY THE TIME OF ROENTGEN'S FIRST VISIT IN 1783, HOWEVER, HE WAS SOON PRODUCING FURNITURE CLOSELY LINKED TO ROENTGEN'S. ALTHOUGH HIS PERSONAL INFORMATION IS NOT WELL-DOCUMENTED, FOR AT LEAST FIFTEEN YEARS, UNTIL PERHAPS 1800, HE SUPPLIED AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF FURNITURE TO THE RUSSIAN COURT. MEYER'S LATER PIECES, THOSE MADE IN THE MID- 1790'S, ARE PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO THE PRESENT LOT (SEE A. CHENEVIERE, RUSSIAN FURNITURE: THE GOLDEN AGE 1780-1840, NEW YORK, 1988, PP.83-95).
CHRISTIAN MEYER, PROBABLY THE MOST CELEBRATED RUSSIAN CABINET-MAKER WORKING IN ST. PETERSBURG AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, WAS CLEARLY IMPRESSED BY ROENTGEN'S FURNITURE. AS IS NOW WELL-KNOWN, MEYER WAS AN ESTABLISHED CABINETMAKER IN ST. PETERSBURG BY THE TIME OF ROENTGEN'S FIRST VISIT IN 1783, HOWEVER, HE WAS SOON PRODUCING FURNITURE CLOSELY LINKED TO ROENTGEN'S. ALTHOUGH HIS PERSONAL INFORMATION IS NOT WELL-DOCUMENTED, FOR AT LEAST FIFTEEN YEARS, UNTIL PERHAPS 1800, HE SUPPLIED AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF FURNITURE TO THE RUSSIAN COURT. MEYER'S LATER PIECES, THOSE MADE IN THE MID- 1790'S, ARE PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO THE PRESENT LOT (SEE A. CHENEVIERE, RUSSIAN FURNITURE: THE GOLDEN AGE 1780-1840, NEW YORK, 1988, PP.83-95).