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Lot Essay
Pierre Macret, marchand-ébéniste privilégié du Roi suivant la cour et conseils de sa majesté in 1756.
This elegant bureau plat by Pierre Macret epitomises the nascent neo-classicism of the late Louis XV period. Widely recognized as the goût grec, it is known to have appeared circa 1754-1756 with the first experimental bureau plat executed for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, probably by Joseph Baumhauer (died 1772) and Philippe Caffiri (1714-1774) to the designs of Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain (1714-1759), and now at the Musée Condé at Chantilly (S. Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 85-89). Such a novel, unparalleled and unprecedented vogue rapidly gained popularity as evidenced by the celebrated quote from the Baron de Grimm in 1763: tout se fait aujourd'hui à la grecque (Ibid, p. 264).
Among the related examples is a bureau plat by Philippe-Claude Montigny was sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's, London, 14-15 December 2005, lot 178; and two examples by René Dubois, sold at Christie's, Paris, 23 June 2005, lot 467 (EUR 168,000), and Sotheby's, New York, 25 April, 1998, lot 353 ($310,500), respectively. A further example by Pierre-Harry Mewesen, featuring an identical Greek-key frieze is illustrated in G. Wannenes, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Milan, 1998, p. 239.
For further information on Macret, please refer to lot 114.
This elegant bureau plat by Pierre Macret epitomises the nascent neo-classicism of the late Louis XV period. Widely recognized as the goût grec, it is known to have appeared circa 1754-1756 with the first experimental bureau plat executed for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, probably by Joseph Baumhauer (died 1772) and Philippe Caffiri (1714-1774) to the designs of Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain (1714-1759), and now at the Musée Condé at Chantilly (S. Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 85-89). Such a novel, unparalleled and unprecedented vogue rapidly gained popularity as evidenced by the celebrated quote from the Baron de Grimm in 1763: tout se fait aujourd'hui à la grecque (Ibid, p. 264).
Among the related examples is a bureau plat by Philippe-Claude Montigny was sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's, London, 14-15 December 2005, lot 178; and two examples by René Dubois, sold at Christie's, Paris, 23 June 2005, lot 467 (EUR 168,000), and Sotheby's, New York, 25 April, 1998, lot 353 ($310,500), respectively. A further example by Pierre-Harry Mewesen, featuring an identical Greek-key frieze is illustrated in G. Wannenes, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Milan, 1998, p. 239.
For further information on Macret, please refer to lot 114.