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Lot Essay
This pair of boulle marquetry cabinets is part of a small group of low cabinets, all unstamped, related to the production of the marchand-mercier Philippe-François Julliot (1755 - 1835) in the 1780's - 1790's. These cabinets, which all share the same high square tapered legs and same plinth with rectangular marquetry panel, include:
1. A pair in contre-partie, with a drawer below the door (showing the same masks of Daphne), formerly in the Aranc de Presle collection, sold in Paris, 30 April 1795, lot 259, then with Segoura Gallery, Paris, in 1996 (94 cm. high, 65 cm. wide and 36 cm. deep) (illustrated by A. Pradère in 'Curieux des Indes', The Compendium of the Wildenstein sale catalogue, Christie's, London, 14 15 December 2005, p. 25).
2. A pair (showing the same masks of Daphne, the door panels being the première partie versions of the preceding cabinets), formerly in the collection of Lord Essex, then in the Sichel collection, sold in Paris, 28 June 1899, lot 504 (89 cm. high, 78 cm. wide).
3. A pair (with a female mask at the center of the plinth) from the collection of the countess Halifax, sold by Christie's, London, 7 July 1977, lot 103 (95 cm. high, 81 cm wide, 47 cm. deep).
4. A pair sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 22 June 1986, lot 553 (96.5 cm. high, 78.5 cm. wide).
5. A pair from the Leverhulme collection, Thornton Manor, Wirral, Jeresy side, sold Sotheby's, London, 26 June 2001, lot 59 (93.5 cm. high, 77.5 cm wide, 46 cm. deep).
The composition of all these cabinets derives from a pair of low cabinets that were in the sale of Julliot's stock on 20 November 1777, lot 719 (illustrated in 'Curieux des Indes', op.cit., p. 25), which look like the side structures of a Louis XIV bureau with eight legs joined by an X-shaped stretcher. It would seem likely, therefore, to suggest that the whole series listed above was made under the direction of Julliot, in the years preceding the revolution. Although the descriptions of such cabinets in the sale catalogues of the late XVIIIth and early XIXth Century are too vague to allow a definite identification, one can point to a pair of this type in the sale of the comte de Vaudreuil, 26 November 1787:
'357. Un joli petit meuble ouvrant à leur entablement d'une frise de feuilles d'eau, masques de femmes et autres ornements. Il est soutenu sur quatre pieds et la tablette est un brèche violette. Hauteur 33 pouces [89 cm.], largeur 30 pouces [81 cm.] ; profondeur 16 pouces [43.2 cm.]. [sold] 861 livres Lebrun f.
358. unmeuble pareil au précédent. Marbre blue turquin. Hauteur 35 pouces [95 cm.]. [sold] 900 livres. Lebrun jr.'
1. A pair in contre-partie, with a drawer below the door (showing the same masks of Daphne), formerly in the Aranc de Presle collection, sold in Paris, 30 April 1795, lot 259, then with Segoura Gallery, Paris, in 1996 (94 cm. high, 65 cm. wide and 36 cm. deep) (illustrated by A. Pradère in 'Curieux des Indes', The Compendium of the Wildenstein sale catalogue, Christie's, London, 14 15 December 2005, p. 25).
2. A pair (showing the same masks of Daphne, the door panels being the première partie versions of the preceding cabinets), formerly in the collection of Lord Essex, then in the Sichel collection, sold in Paris, 28 June 1899, lot 504 (89 cm. high, 78 cm. wide).
3. A pair (with a female mask at the center of the plinth) from the collection of the countess Halifax, sold by Christie's, London, 7 July 1977, lot 103 (95 cm. high, 81 cm wide, 47 cm. deep).
4. A pair sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 22 June 1986, lot 553 (96.5 cm. high, 78.5 cm. wide).
5. A pair from the Leverhulme collection, Thornton Manor, Wirral, Jeresy side, sold Sotheby's, London, 26 June 2001, lot 59 (93.5 cm. high, 77.5 cm wide, 46 cm. deep).
The composition of all these cabinets derives from a pair of low cabinets that were in the sale of Julliot's stock on 20 November 1777, lot 719 (illustrated in 'Curieux des Indes', op.cit., p. 25), which look like the side structures of a Louis XIV bureau with eight legs joined by an X-shaped stretcher. It would seem likely, therefore, to suggest that the whole series listed above was made under the direction of Julliot, in the years preceding the revolution. Although the descriptions of such cabinets in the sale catalogues of the late XVIIIth and early XIXth Century are too vague to allow a definite identification, one can point to a pair of this type in the sale of the comte de Vaudreuil, 26 November 1787:
'357. Un joli petit meuble ouvrant à leur entablement d'une frise de feuilles d'eau, masques de femmes et autres ornements. Il est soutenu sur quatre pieds et la tablette est un brèche violette. Hauteur 33 pouces [89 cm.], largeur 30 pouces [81 cm.] ; profondeur 16 pouces [43.2 cm.]. [sold] 861 livres Lebrun f.
358. unmeuble pareil au précédent. Marbre blue turquin. Hauteur 35 pouces [95 cm.]. [sold] 900 livres. Lebrun jr.'