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Lot Essay
This elegant suite of parquetry furniture, comprising a commode and a pair of encoignures has removed together since its execution, which is an extremely rare phenomenon. These pieces are decorated with a sophisticated parquetry patterns clearly indebted to the oeuvre of Jean François Oeben (1721-1763). On the encoignures two patterns are combined, which appear separately on the commode.
The ormolu mounts and parquetry harmonise together; reserves in dark woods follow the contours of the mounts.
A pair of very closely related encoignures from the David-Weill collection stamped by Dautriche is illustrated in A. Theunissen, Meubles et Sièges du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1934, pl.XVIII while a very related commode but with differences to the parquetry of the side panels is illustrated in M. Blaise, Jacques Dautriche ébéniste sous Louis XV et Louis XVI, L'Estampille - L'Object d'Art no. 360 (July 2001) p.58.
The Ashburnham Collection
The present lot formed part of the remarkable collections of the Earls of 'Ashburnham Place, Sussex', Country Life, 30 April 1953.
The house was rebuilt after the Civil War in 1675-1676, remodelled and refaced by the 2nd Earl circa 1760, again by the 3rd Earl between 1813 and 1817and yet again by the 4th Earl circa 1850. The 1953 sale catalogues of the furniture (Sotheby's, London, 26 June 1953 and bSotheby's house sale, Ashburnham, 7 - 9 July 1953), combined with the interior photographs, show an immensely rich and varied group of French furniture, particularly strong in Boulle pieces, both Louis XIV and Louis XVI. These may have been aquired all or in part by either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Earls, all of whom were considerable collectors.
Between 1781 and 1783 the 2nd Earl's son and heir, Viscount St. Asaph embarked on the grand tour. From then his father's bank account at Drummonds reveals payments to establised agents such as Jean Byres and shippers such as Donat Orsi. More significantly there are regular payments to the Parisian banker Jean-Frederic Perregaux (for details of Perregaux's activities see G. de Bellaigue, Jean Frederic-Perregaux, The Englishman's Best Friend', Antologia di Belli Arte, Melanges Verlet, NN 29-30, 1986, pp. 80-90). The inventories of Ashburnham House of 1817 and 1830, taken on the death of the 3rd Earl, show it to have been luxuriously equipped in the most up to date fashion.
Christopher Hussey describes the big drawing room in the article mentioned earlier as follows: 'The furnishing of this splendid apartment (...) comprises very fine French pieces some of which came from Duc de Richelieu's collection. It includes an escritoire, pedestals and caskets supported by stands, of the best quality of Boulle; and an inlaid commode, with a pair of similar encoignures, signed 'Dautriche''.
Among the other masterpieces from Ashburnham was the celebrated Boulle bureau plat sold from the collection of Mr. Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's, Monaco,. 4 December 1993, lot 68.
The ormolu mounts and parquetry harmonise together; reserves in dark woods follow the contours of the mounts.
A pair of very closely related encoignures from the David-Weill collection stamped by Dautriche is illustrated in A. Theunissen, Meubles et Sièges du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1934, pl.XVIII while a very related commode but with differences to the parquetry of the side panels is illustrated in M. Blaise, Jacques Dautriche ébéniste sous Louis XV et Louis XVI, L'Estampille - L'Object d'Art no. 360 (July 2001) p.58.
The Ashburnham Collection
The present lot formed part of the remarkable collections of the Earls of 'Ashburnham Place, Sussex', Country Life, 30 April 1953.
The house was rebuilt after the Civil War in 1675-1676, remodelled and refaced by the 2nd Earl circa 1760, again by the 3rd Earl between 1813 and 1817and yet again by the 4th Earl circa 1850. The 1953 sale catalogues of the furniture (Sotheby's, London, 26 June 1953 and bSotheby's house sale, Ashburnham, 7 - 9 July 1953), combined with the interior photographs, show an immensely rich and varied group of French furniture, particularly strong in Boulle pieces, both Louis XIV and Louis XVI. These may have been aquired all or in part by either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th Earls, all of whom were considerable collectors.
Between 1781 and 1783 the 2nd Earl's son and heir, Viscount St. Asaph embarked on the grand tour. From then his father's bank account at Drummonds reveals payments to establised agents such as Jean Byres and shippers such as Donat Orsi. More significantly there are regular payments to the Parisian banker Jean-Frederic Perregaux (for details of Perregaux's activities see G. de Bellaigue, Jean Frederic-Perregaux, The Englishman's Best Friend', Antologia di Belli Arte, Melanges Verlet, NN 29-30, 1986, pp. 80-90). The inventories of Ashburnham House of 1817 and 1830, taken on the death of the 3rd Earl, show it to have been luxuriously equipped in the most up to date fashion.
Christopher Hussey describes the big drawing room in the article mentioned earlier as follows: 'The furnishing of this splendid apartment (...) comprises very fine French pieces some of which came from Duc de Richelieu's collection. It includes an escritoire, pedestals and caskets supported by stands, of the best quality of Boulle; and an inlaid commode, with a pair of similar encoignures, signed 'Dautriche''.
Among the other masterpieces from Ashburnham was the celebrated Boulle bureau plat sold from the collection of Mr. Hubert de Givenchy, Christie's, Monaco,. 4 December 1993, lot 68.