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Lot Essay
This elegant writing desk can be firmly attributed to David Roentgen. Born in Neuwied and son of the cabinet-maker Abraham Roentgen, David Roentgen (1743-1807) was one of the greatest ébénistes of his age. After his apprenticeship at his father's workshops, Roentgen eventually traveled to Paris where he became ébéniste mécanicien du Roi et de la Reine in 1785. Although he was particularly famed for his eleborate mechanical furniture -- with which he dazzled the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg, for example -- he was also celebrated for his more restrained pieces.
This bureau plat bears all the hallmarks of the Roentgen workshops. The deceptive simplicity of the design is offset by the hidden complex techniques of construction and the luxurious materials used, with the rich grains of mahogany and the elegant ormolu mounts. The underside of the top is built with the architectural precision so characteristic of Roentgen -- its parquet-like grid anticipating shrinkage cracks before they even began. This wonderfully sophisticated construction may be a result of the originally very large size of the writing surface. And, in general, Roentgen seems to have focused on smaller sized tables and desks -- making this still large and practical piece particularly desirable.
A group of similar bureaux plats, architect's desks and tables were all produced by the Roentgen workshop between 1784 and 1790, and this desk was also clearly produced within this period (see J. M. Greber, Abraham and David Roentgen: Möbel für Europa, Starnberg, 1980, vol. II, pp. 314, 316 and 320-323). Along with the similar general design, most of these pieces share an identical decorative vocabulary, such as the rosette handles, circular roundel and mille raie mounts and, most characteristically, the swagged drapery drawer pulls.
These finely chased mounts were almost certainly supplied by his favourite bronzier François Rémond, one of the foremost ciseleurs-doreurs of the 1780's and the principal supplier of gilt-bronzes to the marchand mercier Dominique Daguerre. Rémond's accounts list large amounts of purchases by Roentgen, ranging from full scale sculptural groups to smaller items, including the 'poignées en draperies' featured on this bureau plat (see C. Baulez, 'David Roentgen et François Rémond, une collaboration majeure dans l' histoire du mobilier européen', Estampille Objet d'at, 1996, pp. 99-118).
This bureau plat bears all the hallmarks of the Roentgen workshops. The deceptive simplicity of the design is offset by the hidden complex techniques of construction and the luxurious materials used, with the rich grains of mahogany and the elegant ormolu mounts. The underside of the top is built with the architectural precision so characteristic of Roentgen -- its parquet-like grid anticipating shrinkage cracks before they even began. This wonderfully sophisticated construction may be a result of the originally very large size of the writing surface. And, in general, Roentgen seems to have focused on smaller sized tables and desks -- making this still large and practical piece particularly desirable.
A group of similar bureaux plats, architect's desks and tables were all produced by the Roentgen workshop between 1784 and 1790, and this desk was also clearly produced within this period (see J. M. Greber, Abraham and David Roentgen: Möbel für Europa, Starnberg, 1980, vol. II, pp. 314, 316 and 320-323). Along with the similar general design, most of these pieces share an identical decorative vocabulary, such as the rosette handles, circular roundel and mille raie mounts and, most characteristically, the swagged drapery drawer pulls.
These finely chased mounts were almost certainly supplied by his favourite bronzier François Rémond, one of the foremost ciseleurs-doreurs of the 1780's and the principal supplier of gilt-bronzes to the marchand mercier Dominique Daguerre. Rémond's accounts list large amounts of purchases by Roentgen, ranging from full scale sculptural groups to smaller items, including the 'poignées en draperies' featured on this bureau plat (see C. Baulez, 'David Roentgen et François Rémond, une collaboration majeure dans l' histoire du mobilier européen', Estampille Objet d'at, 1996, pp. 99-118).